Slayer and Immortal
by MacMan3679
Summary: When Xander is killed by the Master's Vessel, he does not stay dead, with a surprising relative as his mentor. See how the Scooby Gang survives the Hellmouth when one of them is nigh unkillable, and can sense supernatural creatures before they attack. Joyce Summers is his Watcher, and knows about Buffy sooner than canon. Eventual, Bander, for the ship.
1. Awakening Potential

_**Buffy the Vampire Slayer**_ created by Joss Whedon under his production tag, Mutant Enemy Productions, with co-executive producers being Jane Espenson, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon, and David Solomon.

 _ **Highlander: The Series**_ is a Canadian-French fantasy science fiction action-adventure television series, co-produced by Rysher Distribution in the United States, Gaumont Television in France, Rete Italia in Italy, RTL Plus in Germany, and Amuse Video in Japan.

 _ **Highlander: The Raven**_ produced by Gaumont Télévision and Fireworks Media in association with Davis-Panzer Productions.

* * *

 **Slayer and Immortal**

 **[Potential]**

 _ **At the Bronze**_

Every town has a place, where all teenagers like to hangout, whether it's the local arcade, a dancehall, or an IHOP®. These places allow teenagers to learn how to interact with one another, be with friends, date, form relationships, and generally learn about themselves by how they communicate. In the town of Sunnydale, California, a nightclub known as the Bronze serves that purpose, but the Bronze is not just for teenagers, it serves as a general meeting place for new faces hoping to blend in, and evade notice, because the majority of the nightclub's patrons rarely include people above the age of 19, unless you count the dead.

Tonight, however, there is one patron, a living patron, that supersedes that margin, by over 1100 years. This patron, a woman with raven-black hair, in a pixie-cut, her thin frame covered by a loose fitting, black dress. As old as she is, she carried herself with the grace of an acrobat, which helped her become what she has trained herself to be; invisible. She was finally able to make it inside, and a wall of sound that in her opinion, was an insult to music everywhere, struck her like a physical blow. Walking through the swell of humanity, she seemed to be looking for someone in particular, but she seemed to know where she was heading, like she knew just where to find her prey.

She walked up a flight of stairs, passing a girl who seemed to be holding court, the nearly twelve-century-old woman, shook her head as she listened to the pseudo-queen, before moving passed, up the stairs to a table. At the table, already seated and looking over the railing, sat a young man with dark hair the same shade as hers, cut down to the nape of the neck, with bangs sweeping down to just above his eyebrows, from the back he was wearing a black-leather jacket, and blue-jeans. The immortal woman, feeling a slight jolt of electricity, like her hand had gripped a hand buzzer, only it was in her head, approaches him from behind, placing her hand upon his shoulder, and says in a sexy tone of voice, "Hey, big boy, would you like a date?"

The boy whipped his head around in astonishment, that anyone would speak to him like that. When he sees who had spoken to him, his face evolved into a bright grin, "Aunt Manda," he exclaimed, while surging forward and lifting her into a shaking hug, "It's so good to see you," he declared!

Amanda LaVelle, also known as, Amanda Darrieux, also known as, Amanda Deveraux, aka, The Amazing Amanda, laughed and squealed in delight as the young man, picked her up and brought her into a bone-crushing hug. One she gladly returned, "Alexander Lavelle Harris, put me down, now," she demanded in faux anger, when he did, she stepped forward to give him a kiss on the cheek! She looked him over, noting the rest of his outfit, a light-blue polo-shirt, with dark-blue trim, and black tennis-shoes. "My, my, Xander, you sure have grown into a handsome young man," she appraised him, "I'm surprised you don't have the ladies knocking down your door."

Xander flushed from the compliments, "Amanda, it's almost as bad as my mother saying stuff like that, when you say it," he admonished in embarrassment.

To which, she smiled as brightly as the sun, she could still see traces of her husband in Xander's eyes, and the cut of his chin…

 _Flashback 840; Normandy, France_

I remember my wedding day, the food, the dancing, the toasts; the man, his name was Alexandre La Velle, the eldest son of the local innkeeper. He would have inherited the inn when his father died, I met him when I took a job there as a tavern girl. Alec, as most called him, was not the best-looking man in town, but what he lacked in the looks department, he more than made up for in intelligence, but more importantly, with me at least, he was the gentlest soul I have met in my mortal, and immortal life. While in those days, girls were pretty much sold to their husband's families, my father nor I, had aught to say about the arrangement, because I have never loved _anyone_ as much as I loved, Alec. Only Duncan Macleod, has ever come close to eclipsing my feelings for Alexandre La Velle.

I gave birth to Angela La Velle, within a year of our wedding, but I lost Alec to the Plague in 848, and because Alec died before my father-in-law, by law the inn passed to his next oldest. Bruno La Velle was a pompous ass, and he never liked me very much; well, the feeling was mutual, especially after he had me evicted from my home like I was trash. Luckily, Alec's youngest brother, Lucas, who had been employed as a steward for the local landowner, took more after his father and oldest brother, especially towards family. He agreed to take in my daughter, and raise her as his own, he could not accept me, since he was married, and his wife Angeline, a survivor of the Plague, was rendered barren by it. The last night I spent with my daughter, was the hardest night I have ever had in my life, it was agreed that I would leave in the night after she was put to bed. I told, Lucas and Angeline, that if Angela ever hated me for leaving her, that I would be okay if they encouraged it, because regardless of my reasons, I was still abandoning my daughter.

I'll never know if they did encourage her hatred, because that was the last time I saw my daughter. Because, what most people don't realize is that when I went into that Plague infested house, I wasn't looking for food, I had lost all hope, and wanted to be with my Alec again, so I went into the house hoping that I would be in Paradise soon. Just my luck, that mob caught me just before I entered, they thought I was coming out of it, but it didn't matter to me what they did to me, either way, when it was all over I would be with my Alec, or so I thought. When I awoke in Rebecca's Abbey, and realized I could not be with my Alec, I started to cry like I had just lost him again. I felt his loss anew, and this time it was even more cruel, because it felt as if God was punishing me, I felt the guilt of leaving Angela all over again, as fresh as if I had just done it, because now, it felt like I had abandoned her for nothing.

Then I met, Rebecca Horne, and she taught me how to live properly, that even in an Immortal life there was hope. Rebecca was the only person who ever saw the real me, Amanda La Velle, wife of Alexandre La Velle, and mother of Angela La Velle. The only Amanda, Duncan, or anybody else ever saw was, The Amazing Amanda, the sly, capricious, opportunist, who would sell out her own mother just for some fun and profit. I never told Duncan, that I had been married before I became Immortal, the only person I have ever told was Rebecca, and that was only because she helped keep track of my family, until her death early in this decade. I kept track of them over the years, even visiting them when it wasn't too dangerous for them. I adopted a completely different persona when I was with them, well not so much a different persona, just the one I had before my First Death, the mother, the wife, the widow.

For various reasons, all of my bloodline has been eroded away over the centuries, for some unknown purpose, whole branches of my family tree have become lost. The methods vary from war atrocities, to diseases that left that branch withered and impotent. There were only ever two branches from my family tree, the European Branch, and the American branch. The last of my European Family Tree were destroyed by World War II, either in combat or victims of Hitler's concentration camps. The American Branch has suffered losses too, though not as quickly as Europe, which is why I spent so much time in America over the last century, I was doing what I could, to preserve my bloodline. I know its _my_ bloodline being targeted because none of my sister's line have been so severely impacted as mine, nor has Bruno's had the same massive die offs as mine. In fact, and this is why I believe these die offs have had a hand of guidance involved, because the last of my line has culminated in the young man in which I currently have my arms around; Alexander Lavelle Harris.

 _Flashforward 1998; Sunnydale, CA, USA – Present_

… especially the way his eyes look at her, before Alec fell in love with her. "So, tell me, what lovely maiden has captured the eye of my little Alec," Amanda demanded of her Ultimate Grandson?

Almost on their own Xander's eyes leave hers, and flick to the side, down into the main floor of the Bronze, and the look _her_ Alec acquired after he fell in love with her came over his face, she recognized it, because when directed at her, it never failed to make Amanda La Velle weak in the knees. Amanda followed his gaze down until her sight fell upon a pretty, blonde girl, sitting next to a red-head, Amanda also recognized as Xander's best friend since kindergarten, Willow Rosenberg. "So, have you finally, recognized Willow's affection for you as more than just best friends," Amanda asked, just to be sure?

Xander Harris shook his head, and with a light-hearted sigh, answered, "I do love Will, there's no denying that, but I can never see Will, as anything more than a sister," then added in a quip, "she knows way too many embarrassing things about me to ever change that. No, the woman who has captured my heart recently, is the goddess sitting next to my, sister from another mister," he continued, "her name is Buffy Summers, and she just recently moved to Sunnydale, at the beginning of this school year, this week."

Amanda looked at Buffy, _and_ seemed to know her, somehow, the way she carried herself reminded her of a few women that she had met. They were always accompanied by an older gentleman, who seemed to be her primary caretakers. _Could she be, the Slayer of this generation,_ Amanda wondered, _where's her Watcher?_ Amanda knew that Slayers, only appeared when nests of vampires could be detected, but she had not sensed any in the club so far. Just as she had that thought, her Quickening was set off, and unlike the electric shock she gets when she senses another Immortal, this sensation felt more like what happens, when she ate ice cream too fast. It was the chill of the grave, and in all of her over eleven-hundred-years, she has only felt this sensation ten times, and it always preceded the appearance of vampires.

Rebecca always said, The Game, was a distraction from the true purposes of Immortals, that of monster exterminators. The real reason Immortals do not fight each other on holy ground, because that is the place they fight to hold back the darkness. They can fight the monsters anywhere, but if they fight alongside other Immortals, they run the risk of being vulnerable while absorbing the demonic energy. Rebecca took all of her students on a few Hunts, to acquaint them with the demons of Hell. While Amanda, was reluctant to participate in the Game, she and Duncan had taken more than a few vampire heads. Not all Immortals participated in the Hunt, feeling themselves above such activities, and really, it's every individual's right to choose how they live, however those who do Hunt, always have a slight advantage, in the Game, over those who do not.

They watched, as Buffy looked around and spotted something on the other balcony. She excused herself and they followed her with their eyes, as she made her way up the stairs, until she came next to a middle-aged, well intellectual looking gentleman was the nicest term, Amanda could come up with. _So, that must be her Watcher,_ Amanda looked up at her grandson, and watched his confusion mount, as he watched a teenage girl get up and make her way to stand next to what was clearly and older-man. It was too good of an opportunity for teasing to pass up, so allowing an innocent smile to cross her face, Amanda observed, "she is very beautiful, but she seems to be going into an older man phase," she commented while idly, scratching her chin. Then seeing the horror cross his face, as he whips his head around, she adds more fuel to the fire by slowly stroking down his arm, "just recently, I myself just went through a younger man phase, I had a lover named Duncan, and he seemed to fulfill all my needs, except one."

Xander's face could have rivaled a traffic light in redness, as he gulped down the frog in his throat, "wh-which one was that, Aunt Manda?"

Amanda threaded her arms around Xander's neck, leaned in closer to his ear, while pressing her body into his, and whispered, "he wasn't my Alec." Amanda herself did not know if she meant her husband, or the teenager she was teasing so mercilessly. In the end it did not matter, because both Alecs held pieces of her heart, she could never allow even Duncan to have, so while she was close enough to do it, she planted a kiss on his cheek, and hugged him a little tighter.

Xander smiled and hugged her tightly, and accepted the kiss, before turning to look back down on the main floor area. He spotted something anomalous down on the edge of the dancefloor. Willow was chatting up a guy who looked like he had just walked out of the seventies, "did That 70's Show throw-up on this guy or what?"

Amanda jerked her head around, to look at where Xander was pointing, and her eyes widened as she spotted it too. _I've never known the bloodsuckers to be this sloppy unless, they weren't worried about being caught, which means they weren't planning to leave any survivors._ She suddenly tensed, then turned to her grandson, the last person in her life she truly loved, and pulled his arms, "we have to leave Alexander, now," her tone brooked no argument, and sensing the urgency in her voice, a voice that had never beguiled him on things that truly mattered, especially when she called him by his full first name. So, Xander followed her without a word, almost as soon as Willow and her paramour, started making their way out of the Bronze.

 _ **Out of the Bronze**_

As soon as Xander and Amanda left the Bronze, Amanda began telling Xander the true story of Earth. "This world is older than you know," she began, "contrary to popular belief, it did not begin as an Eden. For untold eons, demons walked the Earth," Amanda continued, while drawing a sword, seemingly from nowhere, "they made it their home, their... their Hell, in time, they lost their hold on this reality. This paved the way for mortal animals, for humanity. All that remains of the Old Ones are remnants, certain magics, creatures, and guardians, that have been tasked with controlling the populations of these fiends, one such protector, if they choose to take up that mantle, are the Immortals. From the dawn of time Immortals have walked among mortals, moving silently among other humans, they are born mortal and live out their lives, never knowing that they are special, until they die a violent, or otherwise unnatural death."

They have been following Willow and her would be boyfriend, while Xander listened to his Aunt Manda tell him a fairytale, that was all the scarier because he wanted to believe it. He reached his arm out to stop her, and turn her to face him, "what are you talking about, and where did you keep that sword, that dress didn't seem large enough to hide a European broadsword?"

Amanda turned toward him and proffered the hilt of the bastard sword in his direction, "take it, Alec," she ordered, and when he did, she closed her hands around his with surprising strength. Before he could wonder about it, she looked him in the eyes and ran herself through with her own blade.

The shriek of pain that came from her, was as real as the two feet of steel protruding from her back, she suddenly fell to the ground, and he pulled the sword from her belly. His eyes were wide with shock, as he looked at the blade, that had just been pulled from one of the women, he saw as his mother, and noted the blood dripping from the sword in his hands. Xander ran his fingers along the blade, through the substance that was coating it, his hand came away and he sniffed it, and given the amount of times he skinned his knee as a kid, he knew the coppery-metallic smell of blood, and then overwhelmed by what he was seeing, he dropped the sword with a loud, **CLANG**! While he was distracted, Amanda reached up and grabbed his clean hand, pulling until he could feel the wound he inflicted, he felt the wound closing and within seconds, he felt unblemished skin, where before had been a gaping wound that would have meant death, if he was not beginning to realize what she was. "You're an Immortal, aren't you," he asked just for confirmation? Amanda just smiled, and nodded, "how old are you," Xander asked?

"Didn't I and your mother, teach you to never ask a woman about her age," Amanda asked, in mock-outrage? Xander still had the presence of mind to look abashed, despite this new revelation about her identity, she was still the woman who diapered his butt, as a baby, and scolded him when he was seven-years-old for drawing on the walls. Seeing his demeanor, Amanda smiled, _he's still the boy I helped raise for six-years, when his dad ran out on his family._ "Let's put it this way, Alec," she informed him, "I was born well before, Columbus discovered America."

Xander's eyes widened at that, but before he could speak he heard a voice calling him from the direction of the Bronze. It was Buffy Summers, and she was hurrying toward him, calling his name, "Xander," she called!

They both turned in Buffy's direction as she reached them, and she seemed to shiver, as she got close to them "Hey, you leaving already," Xander asked? Amanda hid and amused smirk, _So, she sensed me, she just doesn't know what she's sensing._

Buffy just shook her head, and hurriedly asked, "Xander, have you seen Willow," she asked in a pleading gesture.

Xander nodded, "Yes, I have, I just watched her leave with some guy, who looked fashionable if you didn't count the clothes right out of the Walton's," he told his crush.

Amanda felt a shadow passover her, as she stood next to Buffy, _yep, definitely the Slayer._ "We were going to go after her, because that man she was with, was a vampire," Amanda informed the Slayer.

Buffy turned to look at this woman, who seemed to know who she was, in shock, her mouth hanging open, eyes bulging out of their sockets, "H… How do you kn… know that," she stammered?

Amanda turned and began walking at a brisk pace, "It'd take too long to explain it, now, Slayer," she told Buffy. "Come along, you're going to be needed, you too Alec, I don't want you staying here, by yourself."

 _ **Cemetery**_

"You should've brought your own," a male voice was saying as the trio approached a particular tomb. They had entered the graveyard, and almost seemed to know exactly where they were heading. Well, Amanda and Buffy seemed to know, Xander just followed in their wake. For Amanda, she allowed her Quickening to direct her, and Buffy was following her instincts. They came upon the mausoleum where it seemed, Willow had been taken, and events were coming to a head inside.

"I did," came a cocky, sarcastic, female voice.

"Hey, wait up," came another voice, a voice Xander and Amanda knew well.

" _Jesse,_ " they whispered, and both Amanda and Buffy, had to grab his arms to keep him from rushing inside half-cocked.

"Oh my god, Jesse," came a cry from Willow.

"She gave me a hickey," Jesse's voice sounded from inside, it sounded weak, to Xander and behind his back, Amanda and Buffy shared a look, and Amanda's eyes had a shiny quality to them, before she dashed them away and got her head in the game. _I will mourn later and help Alexander and Willow, through their grief._

"I got hungry on the way," the female voice said, like it was no big deal.

"Jesse let's get outta here," Willow's voice sound with a warble of fear.

"You're not goin' anywhere," the female, vamp-tramp's voice said menacingly. Just as Amanda and Buffy made their move.

"Leave us alone," Willow demanded.

"You're not goin' anywhere," the vamp-tramp continued as if Willow had not spoken, "until we've FED!" Willow shrieked a fright.

"Ew, honey," came a voice from behind them, "I think you need a few hours in the sun, and maybe you'll be passable," came Amanda's voice in a dismissive tone as she walked in to the right, sword at the ready.

Then Buffy entered, moving down the center, followed by Xander to the left, "Well," Buffy said in a bright, happy voice, "this is nice," she said, complimenting the tomb, just like she was complimenting a homeowner, then condescendingly added, "it's a little bare," she said sauntering forward without a care in the world, not at all like she was walking into a vampire's lair, "but, a dash of paint, a few throw pillows," she walked straight to the original occupant's bed, "and you could call it a home."

Amanda advanced on her side, placing herself between the undead, and Willow and Jesse to further prevent the vamps assault. She was more than willing to let Buffy take the lead, to see what this Slayer was made of; steel, or cotton. "Who the Hell are you," the vamp-tramp demanded, she was obviously the one in charge?

"You mean there's actually someone in this town who hasn't figured it out," Buffy asked sardonically, looking at Amanda, who gave a devilish grin? "I'm telling you," Buffy said in consternation, "having a secret identity in this town is a job of work."

Xander just listened to his crush take charge of the situation, and he could tell this was not Buffy's first rodeo, _she's done this before!_ To say that this night, was the most surprising one of his life, would be the understatement of the century, and they only had two more years before the end of the millennium. First, he discovers that the woman who practically raised him, was older than America, then he learns of the existence of monsters, he only thought was the domain of science fiction, finally he discovers that his crush is a Slayer, capital S, and is facing down two of the previously mentioned monsters like it was nothing. He looked at Amanda, who was looking at him with a reassuring smile, one he could only return, he was definitely out of his element.

The vampires seemed to be doing their best to trap Buffy between them, the male on the far side of the tomb from the door, and away from Xander, but closer to Amanda, though he apparently did not sense his danger. The female was closer to Xander, and the door, "Hey, Buffy, Amanda, we bail now, right," Xander asked in an apprehensive voice?

The male vamp snaps, "not yet." His lips do not close, before his head is sent rolling across the floor, courtesy of Amanda La Velle.

"Be quiet, little boy, the grownups are talking," she quips, just before a silvery flame begins to rise from the vampire and envelops the Immortal in what looks like a frozen fire. The vampire was astonished, this woman had taken out her subordinate, like she had done it a thousand times and was literally sucking in his demonic energy. Buffy took advantage of the vampire's distraction and started pummeling her, Buffy was wiping the tomb with her.

Amanda was just coming out of her Quickening, when Xander dashed next to her, "Aunt Manda, take Willow and Jesse and go," Amanda was about to protest, but Xander added more forcefully, "you're in no condition to fight, even I can tell you're not ready to fight." Amanda looked into his eyes and nodded, then gathering the other teens in her arms she flees the tomb, with tears streaming down her face.

Buffy has the female vampire down, and is ready to destroy her, they appear to be having a conversation, when from behind the Slayer, a hulking brute of a vampire appears almost out of nowhere. Picking Buffy up, he throws her to the side, like she is nothing, then begins taking his anger out on the female vampire, taking her to task for dereliction. As he seems to be preoccupied with his subordinate, Xander decides to try and sneak by him to get to Buffy. He manages to get to Buffy and get her up, she is dazed, but recognizes him as a friend. "An Immortal, here," Xander hears the newcomer exclaim, and he can only smile, because he hears a grain of fear behind the surprise, and relinquishes his hold of his subordinate, "Go, I will handle the little girl, and her lapdog."

Xander felt him, the new vampire come behind him, and Xander pushed Buffy away to reduce her chances of getting hurt. He felt an inescapable grip on his neck, then a sickening crunch, and unbearable pain before he was no more…

"XANDER!"

 **[Awakening]**

 _ **Cemetery**_

Three people are running through a graveyard, running for their lives, running as if their very lives were in danger. For two of them, that may be true, but for one, she was only running to lead their vulnerable people, away from the previous fight. She had finally recovered from the absorption of the demonic energy of a vampire, and this individual vampire, was nowhere near as debilitating as the Quickening from another Immortal. Amanda began looking around for danger, and her Quickening alerted her to the presence of more vampires.

They ran into a gang of vampires, she could not afford to be debilitated by the energy of another vampire, luckily, they were right next to a tree. A tree with a lot of low-slung branches, so brandishing her sword, and putting some distance between her, and her charges, Amanda sliced off a branch. Remembering her time in Asia, Amanda's broadsword became a blur of motion, as she whittled the wood into two rudimentary stakes, then before they hit the ground, she returned her sword to her Place, and caught the stakes before they hit the ground. The bark cut into her hands, but it would heal, she thought, _I need to get back to Buffy and Alec._

All of her motions took place in seconds, her actions were a blur even to the vampires attempting to surround them. Amanda's lips began to grow into a predatory smile, "You sure you children, wanna take me on," she asked in a hiss of contempt, "you might get a spanking?" They were surprised, they have never encountered anyone, this side of the grave, who was not afraid of them, and for the first time in their unlife, it was they who were afraid. Which was all Amanda needed, because she dashed forward, faster than a mortal on skates. She thrust forward with her right-hand stake, taking a dark-haired male vampire in the chest. Not waiting to admire her handiwork, Amanda sidestepped to the right, as a female tried to ambush her from behind, the Immortal's left-hand stake took her right between her boobs.

Allowing the force of the female's lunge to push her, Amanda added her own force to a spin that brought her around, and into a lunge at a male vampire. Noticing another female behind the male, Amanda capitalized on her forward motion and lunged again, to ram one of her stakes up under the ribcage of the female. Amanda noticed the last two vampires keeping their distance, it seemed self-preservation had won out, over whatever vampire lord commanded them, _but the only good vamp, is no vamp at all; I always say._ The four vampires she staked, had already become dust, as she took a breath to calm herself. The two vampires keeping their distance, were arrayed at 90-degree intervals from each other, one of them, a blonde-haired teenager was standing ten-feet away, at Amanda's three o'clock, and a male of Asian descent was twelve-feet back, at her six. Amanda seemed to relax, allowing the tension in her shoulders to ease, then she was a blur of motion, whirling around to cast her right-hand stake at the Asian, while whirling back toward the blonde with her left-hand stake. Both stakes impacted the vamps' chests at the same time, and they were dust before they knew it.

There was a sudden scream of surprise from Willow, and just as Amanda turned back toward her charges, the blonde female vampire from the tomb, stood there holding Willow and Jesse by their necks. She positioned them in front of her, to prevent Amanda from doing anything rash. The undead woman's eyes were full of curiosity, as she gazed from behind her two hostages, "I have to say, I've heard rumors of Immortals like you, but I always thought they were a myth, I've never seen one before."

Amanda shrugged, "you probably have, they just weren't fulfilling their obligations," she spat, "they probably sensed you were there, they just never bothered to confront you. What's your name, little girl," Amanda patronizingly asked?

"Darla; My name is Darla, and I have met one immortal in Rome, who calls himself, The Immortal," Darla took on a wistful expression, "he was one of the better fucks, I've ever had."

"I've met him too, but he's not one of us," Amanda admitted, "he has no Quickening, he's just a self-indulgent ass, who doesn't care about anything," she replied bitterly.

Darla smirked, "I smell sour grapes," she sing-songed, "this has been fun, but I'm late to my Master with the groceries," she said lifting Willow up to indicate just what she meant by groceries. That action was all Amanda was waiting for, because from the same Place she kept her sword, out came a small kukri-knife and with a flick of her wrist, she let it fly until it connected with Darla's arm. Darla was more surprised than injured, because she dropped Willow and leapt back, using Jesse, still gripped in her hand by his neck, as a human-shield. Then keeping her meat-shield in place, she begins retreating in the opposite direction.

Amanda would have chased after the vampire, if she had not heard Buffy scream, "XANDER!"

 _ **Buffy's Would Be Tomb**_

I felt it, when Xander pushed me away, the force with which I hit the floor snapped me out of my daze. I turned, just in time to see the big vamp, grab Xander by the neck in one hand, lifting the first person to welcome me to this horror-show town, off his feet like a child would lift a doll. The brutish vampire did not even contemplate biting him, it merely squeezed Xander's neck like a soda can, then threw him to the other side of the crypt, like Xander, was the aforementioned can of soda. I just watched as the boy, who welcomed me so warmly, if awkwardly, to Sunnydale High, die right in front of me – and it was like seeing Merrick die, all over again. I could not prevent the death of my first Watcher, and now I could not even keep a friend from dying, as a Slayer, I was pretty useless, and Giles wants me, to really do this all the time?

I barely recognized my own voice, as I screamed out his name, "XANDER!" My adrenaline was pumping as I launched at the thing that killed my, maybe – hopefully – friend. I wheeled into a roundhouse to it's midsection, ending up on it's right side, and using my forward momentum swung my right-hand in a ridge-hand formation, into the creature's neck. The combination pushed it back a few feet, giving me enough room to launch into a lunging sidekick, which fueled by adrenaline and Slayer strength, pushed it back into the back wall of the tomb.

The creature stood up and just grinned, "you're strong," it observed, then it lunged off the wall faster than I could follow, and back-fisted me across the face, which sent me reeling into the crypt, standing in the center of the tomb. If anybody else, had been hit with such force, from fist and stone coffin alike, their bodies would look like the aftermath of a twenty-car pile-up. Thank God for Slayer durability, I thought, even while my vision swam from the hits I just took. "I'm stronger," it snarled, while moving over to my prone form. "You're wasting my time," it accused.

I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could, putting the crypt between us. "Hey," I snapped as I moved around to the other side of the tomb, spotting the mortal remains of my would-be friend, and for some reason a minor tinge of regret colored my feelings. "I had other plans, too," I said to it, then steeled my face and hardened my heart, "I was ready to retire, and live like a normal teenager, then your minions had to target one of my friends," I screamed at it! Then, I went on the offensive, and charged forward, vaulting the crypt, sending my foot right into the creature's chest. The blow sent it reeling back into the wall, and down to the floor. Then seeing the stake, I brought with me on the floor, I grabbed for it and thrust forward, but it grabbed my wrist in it's powerful hands and began to squeeze my hand with bone breaking pressure, and I cried out in pain. Slayer durability or not, it still hurts when someone crushes your hand.

"You think you can stop me," it asked as it increased the pressure on my hand, pulverizing the wooden stake, sending splinters into my palm, "stop _us_ ," it sneered? Finally ripping and snapping it, it threw the stake away, and grabbed my shirt, pulling me closer to it, "you have no fucking idea, what you're dealing with," it whispered in my face, before throwing me, over the crypt, to the other side of the tomb. Again, I landed next to Xander's body, and I thought fleetingly, that I saw him move, I looked up expecting the vampire to be on me sooner, than I thought.

I was confused and started to lean up, to see if the coast was clear, just as I was thinking it left, the creature leapt over the stone coffin, straddling me. "And, like a plague of boils," it began to recite, reminding me of Giles, for some reason, "the race of man, covered the Earth, but on the third day of the newest light, will come the Harvest, and the blood of men will flow as wine, then the Master, will walk among them once more, the Earth will belong to the Old Ones, and Hell itself, will come to town," as it was speaking in moved closer and closer to my face. It reached down to grab me, then suddenly recoiled as if burned. It roared in outrage and pain, as it recoiled from the symbol of the pure, noble, sacrifice of Christ, something that was anathema to the creature, above me. Before I knew it, the creature was gone, fleeing from the Power of God.

I sat up, and hastily ran my hands down my body, checking for any lasting damage, then looking around for any danger, my eyes fell upon the broken remains of Xander. Tears unbidden, began leaking down my face, I crawled over to my fallen friend, and leaning down began sobbing harder than I have in my entire life. All of a sudden, there was activity at the entrance of the tomb, I stood up ready to defend myself if more monsters came to attack me, a pity it wasn't monsters, because the first person through the door, was the woman Xander identified as Amanda. I'd observed them, as we walked to the cemetery tonight, and noticed how close they were, it reminded me of the way I used to be with mom, back before the whole burning down the school sitch.

When the woman called Amanda, saw me standing over Xander she just stopped, and stared as if she couldn't believe her eyes. I looked into Amanda's eyes as she stood there, and it was like all hope died in her eyes, even my inexperienced mind understood that this woman, had seen a lot of pain and suffering, and never lost that spark of humanity that kept her from succumbing to her own darkness. When Amanda saw the body of Xander, that spark dimmed noticeably, I looked over at Willow, unable to meet the other woman's face, but Willow's face was just as wrecked as Amanda's.

Willow was only a step or two behind Amanda, so she saw Xander, at almost the same instant. When she saw him, she had to put a hand over her mouth, to keep herself from screaming, she looked between Xander and I, as if she did not believe what she was seeing. I sighed and let my own tears begin to fall, I also explained how Xander died, "he," I began, my voice was clogging with emotion, upon clearing my throat, I began again, "he tried to get to me, while the big vampire was yelling at the female vampire." I knelt down and picked Xander's body, off the floor in a bridal carry, and moved him to the top of the crypt, laying him reverently upon the bier.

"Darla," Amanda supplied, eyes glued to Xander.

I nodded, "Darla," I acknowledged, "I was still out of it, when he almost had me out the door," I continued, while taking him by the hand, it seemed warmer than I thought it would. "The Boss vampire, let Darla go, to come after you, he said something about an immortal, and he didn't seem to like it very much," injecting a moment of levity into a tale of woe, Amanda nodded, as she stepped up to the crypt, and caressed Xander's brow, "just as we were almost to the door, Xander pushed me out of the way, I guess to get me out of the way, and reduce my chances of getting hurt," and that's when the tears began to flow, "then that, that thing, killed Xander like it was swatting a fly." I had thought Lothos was a despicable creature, but even he didn't view killing as if it was nothing, this creature tonight, made Lothos, seem like a kitten, next to a lion. "I'm sorry, so sorry, it should've been me, it was my responsibility to be the one to die, it's what I was born for," I finally broke down, and just began to sob while clutching his left-hand. I felt a shiver work its way down my spine, and Xander's hand closed around mine.

* * *

Willow had listened to the tale of her best friend's bravery, and courage, even when faced with impending death, he wouldn't have hesitated to do what he could to help someone out. Now, one of her best friends was dead, and the other had been captured, by what could only be described as monsters, and the girl she hoped to be her first female friend, was sobbing over the misguided notion that she was supposed to be the one to die, and Willow didn't know how to help her. _Oh, Xander, please come back, we would be lost without you, we need you, I need you, and now more than ever, Jesse needs you._ As soon as, Willow finished that thought, she felt Xander's right-hand close around hers.

Amanda idly stroked the hair of her ultimate grandson, the last of her bloodline, when in the future some asshole came to take her head, if she lost, then whatever remained of who she was, would be lost forever. Nothing would remain of Amanda La Velle, this world would be erased of the blessing of an Alec La Velle, and she didn't know if she even wanted to live in such a world. Amanda reached over and laid her hand on the trembling shoulders of the Slayer and did what her Alecs, would want her to do, provide as much comfort as she could. She would mourn the passing of her family later, she wondered if Duncan would allow her to stay with him, during his retreat. _I'm sure if I tell him, about both of my Alecs, he'll understand and let me stay, Duncan's always…_ And, that's when she felt it, a vibrating buzzing that resonated all over her being, she always thought, it sounded like bells tolling and Angel's singing, all rolled into one sound. It was the unmistakable feel of an Immortal's birth, and that coupled with the sudden gasp of an Immortal's first breath of air, coming from the mouth of her last living blood relative, made it the most glorious sensation Amanda had ever felt. _If Duncan,_ were _here I would definitely be giving him a ride tonight,_ she thought ecstatically.

* * *

When Xander abruptly sat up, and gasped for air, two of the three women surrounding the bier were so shocked, they immediately backpedaled so rapidly, they slipped and lost their footing, and sat down hard on their asses. I didn't know of any other creature but a vampire, that could wake up after they were dead, and it's entirely possible Xander could have been turned while I was dazed, so I took the cross given to me by that mysterious guy in the alley and held it in front of me, as I advance toward the body of our Xander. "Get back, Xander," I screeched, "back! Willow, you get away from him too, he's been turned," I ordered, she complied, but only reluctantly. To my utter surprise, Xander didn't recoil from the crucifix, he just sat there looking at me like I was an idiot.

I hear Amanda laughing at me, and turn to look at her, if he was a vampire shouldn't she be cutting his fucking head off, not laughing like a jackass? Seeing my confused expression only made her laugh harder, before getting her laughter under control, "Buffy, Xander is not a vampire, so don't worry, he has joined a very special society," Amanda told her, then addressed the rest of the group, "it appears you are all going to be part of each other's future, so I'm going to tell you a little of what I told Xander, earlier tonight. From the dawn of time we came, moving silently among mortals, we came from every walk of life, and we are as diverse in origin, as we are in temperament, and moral rectitude. We are Immortals, we cannot die of old age, or disease, and though we are susceptible to toxins and drugs, even the most potent poisons known to mankind, and the most exotic drug cocktails, never keep us down for long."

Mine and Willow's eyes were getting bigger and bigger, the longer Amanda spoke, I have seen things I only thought, were mere products of an overactive imagination, but even I can't fathom a creature, who was well-nigh unkillable. I looked up at Xander, but asked my question to Amanda, "So are these Immortals, as you call them completely invincible, or unkillable?"

Amanda smiles sadly, but shakes her head, and answers, "No, and therein lies the crux, of what we Immortals call, the Game," she turned her eyes to look at all three of the young people before her, "there is one method, and one only, that will end an Immortal's existence: decapitation." Willow and I nodded, and Xander was listening raptly, but Amanda went on, because she needed to explain some things, while she had their full attention, especially Xander's, "listen carefully, especially you, Alexander. When an Immortal is killed by another Immortal, and energy we call, the Quickening is released, and absorbed into the victorious Immortal, with the Quickening comes all the knowledge, and life experiences of the defeated, plus the knowledge and experiences of all the Immortals they have killed, all the way back to the beginning."

"So, how does one become Immortal, Aunt Manda," Xander asked, "is it inherited, a product of the zodiac, or the stars aligning?"

"We don't know, those of us who have studied our history, have never found any kind of pattern, rhyme, or reason, over who becomes Immortal," Amanda told them. "I know two Immortals, both great men, who hail from the same clan in the highlands of Scotland, but they are not directly related, in fact one of them was a foundling, so are only connected by their family name." Amanda could see she had their full attention, but wanted to continue while she had Xander, and the girls to herself, "You, Xander, have probably the most unusual origin of them all, because you are directly related to me."

"Why is that so unusual, Immortals must have tons of kids, with all the women, or men that they meet," a confused Xander asked?

Amanda's eyes became downcast, then brought back up to look him in the eyes, "Actually, Alec, Immortals can't have children," my eyes widened in disbelief, and looking around, I see Willow's eyes sadden, at that revelation, Amanda only nodded and continued, "women cannot become pregnant, and men can't knock a girl up," then with a devious grin she cast her eyes to us. "So, girls, if you ever wanna get your cherries popped, and not worry about the consequences," she said patting Xander on the shoulder, "then Alec here, is your safest choice."

I feel my cheeks burn with my blush and see Willow's face flush, as red as her hair, Xander, _thank God,_ hurriedly returned the subject to the original course. "So, how am I related to you again, Aunt Manda," Xander asked?

Amanda nodded her understanding, for getting back on the subject-at-hand, "believe it or not, Xander," she answered, "you are actually, my great, great, great to the power of three, grandson," I saw Xander open his mouth, probably to ask how it was possible, if she couldn't get pregnant, but she answered his question, "it was before I became Immortal, I married the love of my life, his name was Alexandre La Velle, and we had a daughter, her name was Angela. I became Immortal, and it was too dangerous for her to be with me, so I had my brother-in-law and his wife adopt her." I was looking at the woman, as she was talking about her family, and what became of them, and even to this day, I can tell she beats herself up about her decision, and if I can see that having only known her for one night, then surely Xander will see it too. I was proven right when, he placed his palm on her hand, and squeezed it in reassurance and affection, she looked at him and smiled back with gratitude.

Amanda shook her head and got back on point, "anyway, the ones born to be Immortals, have potential to be one all their lives, I've met Immortals as young as ten, and have heard of them as young as eight, the only way for a potential to become Immortal, is to die a violent death."

"You mean when vamp the Hulk, mistook my neck for a squeeze toy, that's what made me Immortal," Xander asked, he sounded more frustrated, than angry? "Why couldn't he have waited until I was 18, to put the squeeze on me, now I'm going to be 15 forever," he said in an annoyed tone of voice?

As we looked at him, in astonishment at what he was having a problem with, Amanda, me, and Willow all face-faulted, I looked up at him and in a flat-voice asked, "Really, you're worried about your age, when you won't ever have to worry, about crow's feet, or wrinkles?"

"You damn-skippy, I'm worried bout my age," Xander replied stubbornly, "if I look like I'm fifteen for the rest of my life, whose gonna take me seriously, what women are gonna be able to be with me in today's society, where age is a huge factor in who can be with whom?"

"Oh," was all I could say to that, then giving him some scrutiny, "well, if that's really what you're worried about, you could easily pass for a twenty-something-year-old," I assure him.

"Really," he asked, preening, and straightening his clothes, "so you're saying I act mature for my age?"

"No," I answer, with an innocent smile, "but you definitely **look** old enough." As my quip hits home, the two other women in the tomb, begin sniggering up their sleeves, at our favorite boy. Willow didn't even attempt to hide her amusement, Amanda at least tried to stop herself from giggling into her hand.

Xander was a good sport about being the butt of my joke, "oh, ha, ha, ha, let's all laugh at the immortal," then pretending to actually be angry, he said, in a not so accurate imitation of Cartman, "you know what, fuck you ladies, I'm goin' home," then jumps down, from the top of the crypt I laid him on, when he was dead, but he doesn't seem to head towards the door, he just stands there, and leans on the stone coffin, next to me. Willow, even while still laughing, hurried to our side of the crypt, placing her arms around Xander, hugging him from behind, and leaned her forehead into his back. I didn't blame her, I noticed I was leaning a little more toward him, his perceived demise had catapulted this undying boy, from potential friend, to true friend.

After, she finished laughing, Amanda grew deadly serious, "What I've just told you, are the benefits of Immortality, now I'm going to tell you some of the realities of it," she started. "First of all, I am going to tell you, about the Game," she said with severe finality, "the Game, is an ongoing war, perpetuated between ALL immortals with a Quickening. The Quickening is the focus of the Game, and the only way to get a Quickening, or to protect yours, is to take heads."

All three of us were aghast at Amanda's revelation, none more than Xander, "you mean, I'm going to have to kill other people, just to get this Quickening stuff?"

Amanda just nodded, before adding, "you don't have to seek them out, but other Immortals will seek you out, because the Ultimate Goal of the Game, is to be the last Immortal left alive, because There Can Be Only One Immortal left to receive the Prize."

Xander was still reeling, but he had to ask, "and what is this Prize, that makes it worth so much bloodshed?"

Amanda just shrugged, "we don't know, maybe it's the ability to have children, or the supreme knowledge of everything, or something equally as great, all we know is, on some far-off date there will be only two of us left, and if those two decide to fight, to the victor, goes the Prize."

I could see Xander's thoughts, as if he were speaking them aloud, which he did eventually, "how do we even know this Prize is worth all this, I mean we're talking about murder here? How did this, so called, Game, even start?"

Amanda pursed her lips in thought, "The origin of the Game, is another thing we don't know. The oldest living Immortal, we know about, has been alive on this planet for over 5,000-years, he could be older than that, and even he can't remember how it started, says his memory is unreliable beyond five-millennia."

"You've met him," Willow asked in awe?

"Oh yes," Amanda smiled fondly, "we met through a mutual friend, and after a few adventures together, he and I, became good-friends in our own right." Amanda's smile waned a little, "he was even mentioned, in the Christian bible," she looked at them noting their curiosity, and her smile returned, "yes, he was quite infamous in antiquity, as a member of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." After speaking she looked casually down at her outfit, casually flicking off pieces of vamp-dust.

"Well," I asked, "which Horseman?"

Amanda looked up with a vacant stare, appearing to have just remembered, we were still here, "Hm, yes?"

"Which Horseman was your friend," I asked in exasperation?

"Why, Death, of course," Amanda answered.

Xander appeared to be fuming, mulling over everything Amanda, had told him about the birth of the Game, but he still wanted answers to his other questions, "Hey, Granny Manda, I'm still waiting on answers to my other questions!"

Amanda gave him a hard look, and Willow and I, both reached over and gave him a smack upside the head, it was Willow who scolded him though, "Xander, be nice, just because you don't like the answers you're getting, doesn't make her any less the woman who helped raise you. She's still your _Aunt_ Manda," she chided.

Xander deflated and took a deep-breath, "You're right, Will," then extracting himself from Willow's hold, he walked over to one of the few women he loved. He opened his arms, pulling her into a hug, "I'm sorry, Aunt Manda, I guess, I am just a little overwhelmed by all this, especially the thought of having to murder people, for some vague unidentified reward, that could very well be nothing." Xander sighed and lowered his head in humility, "will you forgive me, for the way I spoke to you just now?"

Amanda just looked at him, drawing herself up, like she was getting ready to bite his head-off, but then she just wilted and wrapped her arms around him, just before she completed the hug she suddenly stopped, "Wait," she said, with her finger in the air. Amanda stepped to his side and added her own rebuke to the back of his head, before resuming her position, "of course, I forgive you, my little Alec, I love you, you're my family, and family should forgive. That's what my only husband, your forefather taught me." They hugged for a good while, before she pulled back, "now for your questions," she said returning to her serious attitude, Xander turned and leaned his arms over the top of the crypt, and Amanda leaned into him with her arm around his waist.

"If fighting for the Prize doesn't suit you, how about fighting for survival, fighting to live, or fighting to protect your friends, and family," Amanda asked, while gesturing to me and Willow, and then pressing a hand into her chest? "I said it once toward the beginning, you don't have to seek out other Immortals, because they will seek **you** out, its only a matter of when, not if. You may stumble across them, or they may stumble across you, without actively hunting each other. I, also said that each Immortal has their own moral compass, or Code of Conduct, and there are many who will come to fight you in honorable combat," Amanda's eyes went dark, and her voice became hard, "there are just as many who will use every dirty-trick in the book, and then invent more dirty-tricks, the book never even thought about.

"A good rule of thumb to follow," Amanda advised, then looking directly over at me, "and this is good advice for Slayers, as well as Immortals, don't trust anyone you've only just met, or don't have regular contact with," looking over at Willow, "hell it's good advice for life in general, but it's a matter of life and death to Slayers and Immortals. Let me give you an example," Amanda demanded, "do you remember, the ten-year-old Immortal, I mentioned meeting?" At our nod, she continued, "his name is Kenneth, and he is a Saxon, born in 1172, and as far as I know he is still alive," the looks we gave her showed our understanding. From everything Amanda has told us, the Game, is a contest of strength, endurance, and skill, and while I believe someone of this Kenneth's age, could have gained the skill and the endurance for combat, there is no way he could become strong enough in a ten-year-old's body, to have made it this far without being a son of a bitch. I'll have to ask Giles if he's ever heard of any vampire children? I think, I'll also remain on guard with that Angel guy, he helped me out tonight, but why, and how could he know I would need that crucifix? Witnessing our understanding, Amanda went on to elaborate, "I met him in 1182, he was my first pupil, we were separated after a year, and for centuries I searched for him, until he turned up on Seacouver, Washington, and nearly killed a dear friend of mine. While I _don't_ fault him for his tactics, not like he can stand toe-to-toe with the older-bodied Immortals, what I take exception to, is the fact he targets the mortal families of the Immortals, and even murdered the wife of one of his Immortal caretakers."

Xander looked incensed, at the tactics of this Kenneth, and I was inclined to agree, he may look like a little-boy, but he has the mind of an adult. Okay, he can't win a straight fight, I get that, and under the circumstances, I would employ the same tactics, but family is sacred and should never be messed with, especially if they're noncombatants. Xander's face came out from his anger, with a rueful grin, "Now, I feel bad for that crack I made about being 15 forever, at least I can pass for an adult, Kenneth is a perpetual child."

At that, me, Willow, and Amanda, nodded sagely, then Amanda asked a question of her great times-nine grandson, "Tell me Alexander, you've made reference to a time or two tonight, about the decapitation of Immortals being murder, why is that?"

Xander looked at her like she asked, whether the sky is blue, and why, "well, isn't it obvious, to keep yourself alive, you have to fight this unending battle and cut people's heads off with little provocation, and no restraint."

Amanda just nodded as if she had expected this answer, "I see, tell me, is it murder, if everyone has a fighting chance, to win?"

Xander thought for a moment, then answered, "No, it's not murder in that context.

Amanda smiled deviously, but continued, "would you say we had no restraint, if I told you that there were rules to the Game, that no Immortal, no matter how despicable would violate?"

Xander's face looked surprised, as did mine and Willow's, "what sort of rules, Amanda," I asked?

Amanda smiled at me for asking, "the third most sacred rule is: Only melee weapons are allowed, in combat," at our confused expressions, she elaborated, "no guns, or firearms of any kind may be used; no bows, crossbows, slings, or any projectile weapon is allowed. Only swords, axes, polearms, or weapons you have to swing with your arms are permitted.

"The second most sacred rule that Immortals follow when in actual combat: Battles must be fought, one-on-one, no one else is allowed to help you in your fight and ganging up on your opponent is not allowed.

"And, The Most Sacred Rule, that no Immortal will EVER violate: There will be no fighting on Holy Ground: Any holy ground." My eyes bulged at that revelation, why is that rule even in there, and what does she mean by Holy Ground, I didn't have to ask because she answered our unspoken questions, "cemeteries, churches, temples, shrines, any sacred place, regardless of your personal religion, cannot be a battleground for Immortal battles, and I have never met anyone who has violated this rule. Its such an ingrained rule, that a fellow by the name of Kurgan, a sickening sadist, and rapist, and one of the more evil among our kind, actually rebuked my friend Connor Macleod, as good a man as I've ever met, for almost violating the holy ground law."

Then Xander was the one to ask the next question, "Why's that rule so inviolate to Immortals?"

Amanda just smiled, "According to my Mentor, Rebecca Horne, because it involved what she believed, the original purpose for Immortals was, a sacred duty, entrusted to us by Higher Beings," though she smiled, Amanda's tone was anything but joking, she truly believed in the sincerity of her next words, "The HUNT."

 **[The Hunt]**

* * *

 **The Hunt**

 _ **Sunnydale Cemetery**_

Amanda watched as three pairs of teen eyes, watch, and wait for her, to continue explaining the responsibilities of Immortality, to the infant Immortal, Alexander Lavelle Harris. After dying at the hands of an unknown, but powerful vampire, Xander awoke as a bouncing, baby Immortal. Alec, as Amanda calls him, died protecting Buffy Summers, the current Slayer, and rose, seemingly from the dead in front of her, and his best friend since kindergarten, Willow Rosenberg. For that reason, and because a Slayer must remain anonymous, Amanda felt safe to begin educating her Ultimate Great-grandson, in what it means to be Immortal. Amanda's thought was, by sharing the details for Alec's new life with these young ladies, she was helping to forge a bond of trust between the three. Also, Slayers led such solitary lives, that they believe they are alone in the world, that nobody could understand what they went through day-to-day, and though different in the details, this Slayer seemed no different, and being over 1100-years-old, Amanda knows that Immortals, feel the same way at times. So, by forging these bonds, Amanda hoped these two would, learn to rely upon each other, and it was an attempt on her part to play matchmaker.

Amanda just finished explaining the rules of the Game – significantly, the Law of Holy Ground – to the three teens, and what her Mentor taught her, was the true purpose of the existence of Immortals. Beside the Game, which Rebecca had always said was a distraction, to keep Immortals occupied so they did not run rampant over the Earth, in this world of vampires and demons, and only one Slayer per generation, an Immortal's purpose and obligation, was to quell the Denizens of Hell, and keep them away from Mortals.

"The Hunt," Xander and Buffy asked in unison, when they looked at each other, they both smiled, before turning back to Amanda?

Amanda smiled fondly, "Yes, the Hunt," she confirmed, "remember when I took the male vampire's head tonight, remember the energy discharge just before he crumbled to dust," she asked, indicating the area she was standing, before they tried to make a run for it tonight? At their nod, she continued, "that was the demonic energy that fuels a vampire, it works similar to an Immortal's Quickening, but has a different feel to it. It feels like a bucket of ice water getting dumped on me, every time I take a vamp-head, and demons feel like the inferno they came from."

Amanda was looking in Buffy's direction as she finished her explanation, and witnessed a desperate hope fill the teen girl's eyes. Buffy schooled her features, and in a tightly controlled voice, "you mean there are other people, out there, fighting demons, and vampires, and all kinds of supernatural events? There are others, fighting against evil, that the world's hope isn't solely resting on my shoulders," she was asking, by the end she was speaking rapidly, and in an excited tone of voice?

Amanda just nodded in affirmation, and Buffy's grin could have rivaled the sun in its brilliance. Amanda's face grew suspicious before she asked, "I hope you weren't asking that, just so _you_ can quit, and leave everything to Alec here, the world needs the Slayer?"

"No, of course not," Buffy replied a little too quickly. Then at a hard glare from the eleven-hundred-year-old woman, Buffy cringed, then conceded, "okay, I was thinking it a little, but not seriously, I mean with so many out there fighting, what difference could a single teenager make?"

Amanda nodded at her reasoning, "globally, very little; nationally, not much; locally however, quite a bit; and universally, your contribution, could be all there is to turn the course, of the never-ending war between good and evil." Buffy looked at her in disbelief, at her own importance, "if you doubt me, then when you get a chance, I suggest you research, how almost two-thousand-years-ago, a lowly carpenter rose to become more significant than all the monarchs, philosophers, and inventors of his day, and continues to hold even more significance today." Buffy nodded, and Amanda continued, "and, I believe that bringing you and Alec here, together, is not only vital to the never-ending struggle, but has been a divinely-crafted convergence."

"Why do you say that," Willow asked, and the other two could only just nod their agreement to her question?

"I'll start by saying, Buffy, you are the third Slayer, I've met," Amanda informed them, but before the Slayer could ask, Amanda asked the question herself, "why does that matter, you ask?" When Buffy nodded, as that was the question she wanted to ask, "because of all the Hunter Immortals I know, I am the only one to ever work with, more than one Slayer, every Hunter Immortal I know of, has only ever worked with one Slayer. You, Buffy, are my third."

"Um, Aunt Manda," Xander began, but he was cut off by Amanda.

"Alec, if you're about to ask, if you can get out of the Game, by concentrating on Hunting, the answer is **no** ," she snapped severely, then softened her face, and continued, while squeezing his hand gently, "the Game is a constant, the Hunt is a choice, and it's _why_ we have the Holy Ground Law." Amanda turned back to look at Buffy, "that's right you're my third Slayer," then turning back to look at Xander, "another clue that supports my theory, is the fact I am directly related to Alec here, I told you that's never happened before because of the sterility of Immortals, but what makes it even more significant, is Alec here, is the last of my bloodline."

"What," he asked?

"Over the centuries, I, with the help of my Mentor, have kept tabs on all of my descendants, mostly so I could know how they were doing," Amanda informed her, "but every few generations, most significantly in Europe, whole branches of my family tree have either been, pruned, no, more like hacked off, or withered from disease to nothing. The last of my European descendants met their end in Nazi occupied Europe, in Le Résistance. You, Alec, are my last blood tie to this world," she informed him, "and you know why your mother will never be able to give you brother's or sister's," Amanda reminded him, causing him to nod sadly, which caused Buffy a look of curiosity. "So, there you all have it, everything I have to say about Immortality, from the Game to the Hunt, and now I think it's time we went to find your Watcher, Buffy, and do not worry, the Watcher's Council knows all about, Immortals. They are actually an offshoot of a larger organization of Watchers, who are supposed to observe and record Immortal activity."

"Hey," Xander snaps looking around, "where's Jesse, so much has been going on tonight, I haven't had a chance to notice he was missing?"

At this, Willow and Amanda, look down, with all the excitement of Xander's death, and rebirth, they totally forgot the other tragedy of tonight. "Xander, Jesse was taken by the vampire's," Willow told her best friend, "Amanda was only able to save me from the same fate, but then we heard Buffy scream your name, and we rushed in here to see you dead on the floor."

Xander's mouth was dry when he asked, "are we ever gonna be able to get him back?"

Buffy and Amanda both shook their heads, "No," Buffy tells him, "I don't know if there is a cure, because the Kiss, kills the recipient, and a demon takes up residence in the corpse. It has all the memories and skills of the person before, but the soul, has gone on to whatever reward awaits."

Amanda could only just nod in agreement, "I only know of one vampire, who has ever had his soul returned to them, and then, it was only as a curse by the Romany, for murdering their princess," she admitted, "he was still a vampire, and just because you have a soul, doesn't make you less culpable for your actions, in fact with a soul you are more culpable, in my opinion. I prefer to judge based on his actions, not the presence of a soul. Humans, who are born with souls, are just as likely to be a saint, as they are a sociopath," then turning to look at Xander and Willow, "if you see Jesse again, don't trust him, and don't invite him inside, vamps cannot enter your home uninvited, it actually hurts them."

Amanda turns to them gesturing, "Come on, let's get out of here, I'll drive you all home," she looked at Buffy, "when and where, is the best time to meet your Watcher?"

"At school, he's the librarian at our high school," Buffy replied, "and the best time to meet with him is in the morning, first period is Study Hall for me." Xander and Willow chimed in, saying first period was also Study Hall for them.

* * *

 **[We Have an Accord]**

 _ **Sunnydale High School; Library: Next Morning**_

The next morning, during first period, which happened to be study hall in the library, and Sunnydale High did not have designated classrooms for study hall, therefore students could meet in the Quad, the lunch room, or the library for the period. It was here, that Amanda, Buffy, Willow, and Xander, all met with Rupert Giles, Buffy's current Watcher. When Amanda entered the library, with his Slayer and two other teenagers Giles vaguely knew, he surmised that today, was going to be an eventful day. How right he was, when Xander was introduced as a new Immortal. Amanda was quite right, when she deduced that Giles would know exactly what an Immortal was, and the issues that stemmed from association with one, and when Giles was apprised of last night's battle he decided to just accept it and report to the Council, the birth of a new Immortal.

While not a member of the Watcher Immortal division, all Watchers with active Slayers, were given a list, published weekly, of nearby Immortals. The list included their moral leanings, whether they were Hunters or Gamers, or a mixture of the two regimes, and if they were a danger to their Slayer, or would help her, if asked. He has not checked his mail yet today, so this week's list may include her on it. Amanda explained most of what happened the previous night, leaving out her theory of divine guidance, until she could feel out how Giles felt on the subject.

At the moment, Giles was giving Willow, the same speech Xander got from his foremother the night before. Giles, however, was talking about the origin of Vampires, in this narration, "This world is older than you know," he began, "contrary to popular belief, it did not begin as a Paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the Earth," Giles continued, meandering around the library, returning books to their proper shelves, and keeping only one with him as he came to stand before them, leaning on a table, "they made it their home, their... their Hell, and in time, they lost their purchase on this reality. The way for mortal animals, for mankind, was made. All that remains of the Old Ones are vestiges, certain magics, creatures, and…"

"… and vampires," Buffy finished for him.

"Where did vampires come from," Xander asked, "I still have a hard time believing they exist," he admitted?

Then Willow asked, "What else could it have been," she wondered, "I mean everything movies and books have ever said about them, was shown to be true last night," she told him? Then rubbing the back of her neck, where the one known as Darla gripped her, "They felt real enough, what else could it have been? Willow was in her usual attire, multi-colored cotton blouse, and matching skirt, in sandals, _she pulls it off way better than the 70s vampire from last night,_ Xander thought.

It was Buffy, who answered Willow, but looked at Xander to let him know, he was the one she was talking to, "naw, those weren't vampires, those were just… guys in dire need of a facial," she said in mock-disbelief, "or maybe they had rabies, it could've been rabies," she said in false hope, like someone grasping at straws, to make themselves feel better, "and that guy turning to dust, that was just a trick of the light…"

"… or they had gone mad, and become delirious from the Plague, I've seen that before," Amanda chimed in to help Buffy get through the thick skull of her distant relative, she winked at Buffy, who sent her a grateful smile, and Amanda nodded in acknowledgement, "and they were only able to run down that horse, because it was an old horse, and probably already tired from the long journey they had…"

"… and, not to mention the big one, who used your neck like a used soda can," Buffy added, making it personal for Xander, "he was just hopped up on PCP and Steroids," Buffy concluded, in a deadpan voice. By the time they finished, Xander was smiling at them sheepishly, already accepting the existence of those bloodsuckers. _Hard not to, when you consider that the results of last night's encounter, was the birth of my Immortality, and the loss of one of my best friends. Aunt Manda gave me a set of Butterfly swords, this morning, it was a weapon I was familiar with, for the simple fact that she trained me in some Chinese martial arts for about six years, before she left for what she called, an extended work trip. She said last night, that she felt my potential for Immortality since I was a baby, and took it upon herself to prepare me, for the day it might happen. We talked a little more about it this morning on the ride to school, and she assured me, that while she didn't know, when or if, I would become Immortal, she would be shirking her duties as my Aunt, and guardian, when my mother wasn't around, if she didn't prepare me for any eventuality._

 _The Butterfly swords were forged from a single piece of carbon-steel, with a natural curve in the metal, peaking with a sharp point for stabbing, with a heavy-edge Amanda said was perfect for chopping. The hilt included a hand-guard, that slithered it's way from the end of the grip, which was wider toward the blade but tapered as it moved away from it, ending in a prong that was perfect for disarms, again according to my, Ultimate Great-grandmother? She showed me, how to conceal them with my Quickening, so that even metal detectors would be fooled, and how to wear loose clothing so they would be easier to draw. She said, she would begin sparring with me, today after school, to continue preparing me for the Game. She encouraged me, if I could, to get in some sparring with Buffy, to learn how she fought Vamps. That way, not only would I gain experience sparring against a powerful opponent, it would help us become closer as partners, and learn each other's rhythm's for Hunting._ Today, Xander wore a long-sleeved, button-down shirt, untucked with a yellow mushroom pattern on it, over a white, crew-necked t-shirt, blue-jeans, and converse all-star sneakers. All this went through his head, as Xander listened to Buffy set him straight about vampires, "that's similar to what _I_ said the first time, I saw a vampire. Well," she said, with a tilt of her head as she remembered something ironic, "after I stopped with the screaming part."

Amanda snorted, "I was even worse, I was still in Normandy, France, with my Mentor, when she took me on my first Hunt," she said as she remembered her own experience, "it was the Dark Ages, well before the Age of Reason, when shadows were the sins of your soul made manifest, and a sneeze meant you were possessed by the Devil." She winced at an unflattering moment, "I was a basket case, Rebecca had to hold me down, with a hand over my mouth, to keep me from running away in hysterics," she admitted.

Willow's mouth was hanging open, and despite her earlier conviction of what vampires were, looked ready to faint. "Oh, I need to sit down," she moaned, as Amanda laid a comforting hand on Will's shoulder.

Knowing how stunned she felt, when she was first told about vampires, Buffy said gently, "You are sitting down." That devastating feeling was only later compounded, when she was told she would be the one tasked, with fighting these monsters. Today, Buffy was wearing a black long-sleeved blouse over pants, and a silver crucifix dangled around her neck. She still seemed to be nursing some injuries from the night before, as she was holding an ice-pack to her right arm.

"Oh, good for me," Willow retorted.

Amanda began rubbing Willow's arm in reassurance, "It'll be alright, Will," she told the teenager, "forewarned is forearmed, and we'll teach you the countermeasures you need to know to prevent the vamps from attacking you." For some reason Xander never understood, his Aunt Manda always dressed in black like she was in constant mourning, today however was different, it was as if she had been given a new lease on life, and it showed by the way she dressed. She was in a white tunic-like blouse, and a blue-denim skirt dropping to her ankles, the only black she wore, was a black pair of leather boots that had zippers on the sides.

"So, vampires are demons, right," Xander asked, returning to the subject at hand, seeking confirmation that Jesse was truly beyond the point of saving?

It was Giles, who fielded this question, "The books tell, that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human," Xander turned toward the older man, and gave him his undivided attention, "mixed their blood, a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul," Giles handed Xander the book he was reading, "he bit another, and another, and now, they walk the earth; feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others, just to make more of their kind, waiting for the _animals_ to die out, and the Old Ones to return."

Then, turning to the Immortal woman, he asked seeking answers of his own, "So, what exactly are you doing here, I never knew of one of your kind, to be interested in the trials of the Slayers?"

Amanda's eyes narrowed, "then you don't know very much about us, do you, Mr. Giles? If you did, then you would know that many Immortals have aided Slayers in the past," she explained, then placing a hand over her own chest, "I have the distinguished honor to have helped, three Slayers." Then, pointing to the Slayer in the room, "Buffy, just happens to be my third Slayer."

Giles' eyes rose slightly in surprise, "All right, I'll have to get confirmation from the Watcher Network on that," and Amanda nodded her understanding, but he was not finished, "in the meantime, what are your goals for the moment?"

"I must continue preparing, Alec for the Game, and get him used to using a sword," she gestured to Xander, then moved her head to look at the only blonde in the room, "and if she's willing, I would like for him to become partners with the Slayer, with his ability to sense bloodsuckers and other supernatural creatures, including Buffy herself," she said pointedly, "he could aid her in the night, and reduce the chances of surprise attacks."

Giles fingered his chin as he thought over Amanda's proposal of a partnership, "it has merits, and I see no downside to an alliance, if you'll also help me train Buffy further in hand-to-hand combat. We're taught the standard styles during Watcher-Slayer training, and we are given much leeway in learning other forms of martial arts, but we're far from Masters in said styles."

Amanda just smiled as she assented to her side of the arrangement, "That sounds fair to me."

Xander and Buffy listened, as their Mentor and Watcher respectively, brokered their deal, and then looked at each other, "They sound almost like parents, discussing playdates for their children, don't they Xander," Buffy quipped in a neutral expression, and deadpan voice?

"Makes sense for Aunt Manda, she did raise me for six years, before leaving for her work trip in '92," Xander's voice was just as deadpan as Buffy's, then. "Hey, Buffy, you wanna take me on as a partner, and show me the ropes of Slaying/ Hunting, I can be your early-warning monster detector," Xander asked his new female friend?

"Sure, Xander," Buffy agreed, "if your grandma, will teach me how to better whup vampire and demonic ass, I have no problem, but you have to listen to me, regarding tactics and strategies."

Xander nodded, "I bow to your experience fighting Vampires and Demons, within reason," he conceded, "but if I sense another Immortal, I want you to let _me_ handle it, Buffy," then looking in consternation at his foremom. "I _will_ follow the Rules of the damn Game, if I _have_ to play it," he admitted with resignation, "can you accept that, Buffy?"

And suddenly the reality of Xander's knew existence, was brought to the front of Buffy and Willow's minds, they were not deliberately ignoring it, they were just simply, perhaps subconsciously, not talking or thinking about it. He would have to fight for the rest of his life, killing others so he could live to see tomorrow, chopping other people's heads off, and if he survived, if he somehow made it to the end, and only two remained, he could die then, or become the last Immortal and gain the Prize. Buffy had only known him for a few days, but even in that small window, she has come to care for him. Looking at Willow, who has known him since kindergarten, Buffy can only imagine what she must be going through, knowing what could befall her best friend. Buffy nodded, and barely keeping her emotions in check said, "I will do that, but I reserve the right, to act as your second when you face the other Immortals," she countered, "partners should have each other's backs, no matter what situations may arise."

Stepping forward Xander, spit in his palm and extended his hand to Buffy. Buffy, suppressing her womanly instinct to gag, approached Xander spitting in her own hand, and clasped hands with the Immortal, then for some reason a phrase came to their lips unbidden, and together, in harmony, Slayer and Immortal said, "we have an accord!"

Hoping to change the subject Amanda waves her hand to get Giles' attention, then with a sigh, begins an admission, "when you ask the other Watchers about me, ask after the name, Amanda Darrieux, or Amanda Deveraux, or the Amazing Amanda," she informed him. "Alec here, and his mom, have only ever known me as, Amanda La Velle," she admitted glancing at Xander, then going on, "when not around him, I adopted a completely different persona, it was the face most of my Immortal adversaries, and even my friends saw when I was among them," her voice took on a downcast tone, "and I'm afraid, its not very flattering, outside Sunnydale I was a capricious thief, and opportunist, and many thought me a coward, and unable to take care of myself." She looked at Xander out of the corner of her eye, "she was not someone, I would've ever wanted my little Alec to meet, because she wouldn't have thought twice about abusing his trust in her."

"Hey," Xander said sharply, before taking her by the hand, and softening his eyes, and speaking to Amanda in a warm, loving voice, "if that was all she was, then she wouldn't have such close friends," he said to her, "you've mentioned your Mentor enough times, to give me the idea that whomever that Amanda was, your Mentor still obviously cherished her. And, you mentioned that you had Immortal friends," Xander continued, "given what you've told me about the Game, those friends obviously cherished you, far more than any Prize they might receive, if you're still alive. So, as bad as you think that other Amanda was, she obviously had some redeeming qualities, or you'd be dead. So, whether this Amanda or that, I'll take any Amanda I can get, because I love all of her," Amanda just looked at him, stunned before he bent, to kiss her forehead.

Everybody was quiet, as they watch the spectacle of the two Immortals, then – "BRRIIIINNNGG" – and the spell was broken by the school bell. The three high school students gathered their things and made for the door, to go to their second period. As they were leaving they heard Giles ask the Immortal woman, "What's this game you've been mentioning?

 **[That Dreadful Machine]**

 _ **Sunnydale High School; Library: After School**_

When the last bell had been rung for the day, the gang returned to the library. After the children left, Amanda filled Giles in on the Game, all Immortals must play, the reasons behind it, as well as the ultimate goal of this so-called Prize. Giles had a horrific countenance upon his face, when he was informed of the only means to achieve or protect, oneself in this Game, and the only refuge one could find from the unceasing bloodshed. She told him of the Hunt, she simply repeated for Rupert Giles, the same information she told the kids.

During the day, after she left, and well after regaining his composure, Giles contacted his superiors, and informed them of an Immortal taking up residence in Sunnydale, not to mention the birth of a new one. Amanda's reputation preceded her of course, the Immortal-Watcher Network, confirmed what Amanda told him of her reputation, away from Sunnydale. His informant told Giles, that while Amanda was not evil, she has only rarely, stuck her neck out for anyone. Then he confirmed, Amanda's claims of the help she has given two previous Slayers, one in 1476, in Bucharest when they deposed, the infamous, Vlad Tepes, the only known vampire to rule a nation, and 1916, in St. Petersburg, Russia, to put down Vlad's childe, Grigori Rasputin, who came very close to achieving his sire's reputation.

The Watcher's saw no issue to an alliance with the Immortal, Amanda, and applauded his initiative in securing a partnership with a couple of Immortals. Even the young one would be a benefit for the Slayer, as she would no longer have to hold back her power, during training, something, that because Watcher's were mere mortals, was a requirement. They even liked the idea of a 'companionship' with the young Immortal, between the current Slayer, because they did not have to worry about 'accidents' should their relations reach the consummation stage.

The youths, and Giles, assembled in the library after school. Amanda left during the day to run some errands, and let Giles contact his superiors in London, she would return later. While they waited for her return, they completed their homework, Xander would never be Willow, but he made decent grades, and Buffy refused to let herself fall into the dumb-blonde stereotype.

As they finished their homework, Xander began musing, and idly stared in the direction of the Slayer. She looked over at him wondering what he was thinking about, she felt his eyes on her, his gaze was not _too_ creepy, he seemed to be wanting to ask her something. "What is it, Xander," Buffy asked and they all looked in their direction, "you obviously have something weighing on your mind?"

Xander immediately blushed for getting caught staring, "I'm sorry if I creeped you out, but I've been wondering, you know about me of course, since you were there when I was reborn. What about you, Buffy," Xander asked, "what exactly is the Slayer?"

It was Giles who answered the infant Immortal, "for as long as there have been Vampires, there has been the Slayer," he began, "one girl in all the world, a Chosen One…"

Buffy was grinning and shared a look with Willow, "He loves doing this part," she said rolling her eyes, and Willow giggled.

"Alright," Giles said in exasperation, accepting her rebuke, "the Slayer hunts Vampires -Buffy is a Slayer - don't tell anyone."

Xander just chuckled, "you don't have to worry about that," then turning to Buffy, smirking with a quirked eyebrow, "you keep my secret - I'll keep yours."

"Deal," Buffy agreed.

Then Xander grew serious, "I take it you're not just a pretty face," he asked Buffy, "just what should I expect from the Slayer?"

Buffy just nodded, "Slayers have the strength to stand toe-to-toe with most Vampires and match them," she told him, "over time, our physical capabilities increase, and we can sometimes sense vampires in our vicinity, I'm still working on that one though. We can pick up fighting styles faster than most people and seem to have an instinct for combat. Even before we get the Call, we are usually better than average when fighting." Buffy stopped and seemed to be remembering something, "I don't ever remember getting into any real fights, before becoming a Slayer, but when I was little, I was better than most of the boys when it came to sports and such activities. The one time, I remember getting aggressive with anybody, was a day or two before I met Merrick, my first Watcher," Buffy seemed to sadden at that, then smile viciously as she remembered something. "this idiot was making lewd gestures with his _hot dog_ and using just a plastic butter knife, I cut it into fours." Buffy came out of her memories and looked suggestively at the two men in the room, who cringed, unconsciously and turned away from her, which only made her smile widen.

Xander nodded at this information, "Okay, now we know who all the players are, how do we kill these things," he asked, "other than cutting off their heads, of course."

Giles looked confused, "why would you have a problem with decapitation," he asked?

Before he could answer, Xander felt his head vibrate like his head was the recipient of a jolt from a stun-gun, and Buffy shivered, as if an icy-hand had been run down her back. She was starting to make sense of this, she had felt these shivers, off and on throughout the day, and they always preceded the appearance of Xander, the few times they had class together, or passed each other in the halls. Once she saw him, the feeling went away, _could Xander's Immortality be triggering my Slayer senses?_ While the Immortal and the Slayer, reacted to something, the other two in the room remained oblivious, and Giles just finished asking his question, when a different but familiar voice answered, "because whenever we take the head of a Vampire or a Demon, we absorb their energy, and the process is always painful and debilitating for a few seconds," Amanda's voice sounded from the doorway.

Xander and Buffy turned to the doorway, as they deduced what their respective sensations were, _Aunt Manda said, I could sense other Immortals, vampires, demons, and even Slayers, and I would have a small almost instant flash of a shadow, like something was passing over the sun, I've noticed that just before I saw Buffy today, every time. Could that be the indication, that she's near me, is that how I'll know she's around?_ "That's what I figured, Aunt Manda," Xander explained, "I remember what happened last night when you beheaded that one vampire, you could barely stand after," he elaborates, "so I figure I'll have to be selective in the heads I take."

Amanda smiled at her Alec's perceptiveness, "very good, my little Alec," she complimented, "if it's one, or even two bloodsuckers its okay to take their heads, especially if you're with your new partner," she said indicating Buffy, who smiled in greeting, "but vampires, especially young ones, freshly out of the grave, like to swarm their prey, in that case, taking heads is an easy way to die at the hands of vamps. Remember, Alexander, all it takes is for your neck to leave your shoulders for it to be all over."

"Okay, now we know my limitations," Xander accepted, "and we know how everything started, we know everything we need to know, except for two things."

"What's that," asked Willow?

"How do I kill them without taking their heads," he asked, "where the hell are they?"

"Very well," Amanda conceded, "first, what hurts a vampire, holy objects, and places: religious symbols of any kind: crosses, ankhs, stars of David, Muslim crescent moons, any symbol that is associated with the divine are anathema to them. Though that's largely the personal beliefs of the vampires, not the wielder of the religious symbols. Also, substances blessed by said religions above: water, oils, holy liquids, and solid objects anointed with said substances, can cause lasting wounds, that take time and energy to heal. If you anoint a blade with holy oil, and drive it through their hearts, it won't kill them, but it hurts them like a motherfucker," Amanda stood there grinning sadistically.

"Okay," Buffy said with a shiver, "I'll take it from here Amanda: of course, decapitation is a sure method, but I'll leave when you do that to you. Stakes through the heart kill them, exposure to the Sun, and fire are all effective for dusting vamps, though the older a Vampire the more they're able to resist the latter three. And, you may be right, Amanda, the religious symbols aren't universal, and personal belief and may be even age, must play some role in their effectiveness, I remember Lothos only getting pissed and setting my cross on fire, when I brought it out, to ward him off. But the vamp from last night, Luc, I remember that Darla chick named him, he had me dead to rights, but the moment his hand touched this cross," she said fingering the cross around her neck, "it completely drove him away, and he was more powerful than Lothos, crueler too," Buffy said looking at Xander as she made that assertion.

"Does anyone mind if I pass out," Willow asked, looking sick? Buffy placed her hand on Willow's shoulder, she gently began telling Willow to breathe, which caused Xander to smile at the tenderness Buffy showed his remaining best friend.

Suddenly remembering something, Buffy broke-away from Willow and stepped forward, "This big guy, Luc," she began, "he talked about an offering to the Master, I don't know what or whom," Buffy asserted, "but if they weren't just feeding, Jesse may still be alive. Maybe we can find him, before they turn him," Buffy suggested to them.

Xander's smile was bright and energetic, "you mean, we could still get him back," he asked with hope in his voice?

"It's possible, now that I think about it," Buffy answered, "but don't get your hopes up, if he has been turned," she said steeling her voice, "I'll stake him just like any others."

Xander nodded, "I'll understand if it comes to that Buffy," he said hardening his heart, "the way I see it, if he has been turned, then the demon _has_ hijacked Jesse's body, and would be more merciful to destroy it, than allow Jesse to suffer."

"This may be the dumb question," Willow put in, "but shouldn't we call the police?"

Giles shook his head, "and they'd believe us, of course," he said sardonically.

"You don't have to say it was a vampire, you could just say it was a bad man," Willow said, defending her position.

"They couldn't handle it, even if they did show up," Buffy told her, "they would only come with guns."

"And, who's to say they haven't bought the cops, Will," Amanda put in gently, "with all the disappearances in town, don't you think the police would've noticed by now?"

"You mean," Xander asked?

"Yes, one of the errands I had to run today," she explained, "was to run over to the town's public library and do some research." She pulled out, copies of newspaper articles made from a microfiche copier, and threw them on the table. The other four took up an article each, then all shared a look, as Amanda further explained while gesturing at the articles, "those talk about the increase in disappearances for the last year. The total number of people disappearing has increased by as much as 25%, and the town of Sunnydale already has an abnormal amount of disappearances compared to towns in the area." The four at the table look up silently asking Amanda to elaborate, "Sunnydale disappearances, are greater than surrounding towns of comparable size, by as much as 15%, and yet official population totals have never dropped below the average," all their eyes widened at this revelation, "that means someone in this town's government has been cooking their books, to hide the number of disappearances, and keep the state and/ or federal government from investigating."

"Well, let's shelve that for now," Giles suggested, and they all nodded in agreement, "so, you have **no** idea where they took Jesse," he asked, looking at Manda?

Amanda shook her head, "I didn't have time to follow, when I heard Buffy yelling about Xander, I ran to see what had happened to him and it was too late, by then, to try tracking them."

"We did try," Buffy informed her Watcher, "we looked around before we left last night, but as soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could've just, **VOOMD**!"

Xander looked incredulous, "you mean they can fly?"

"They can drive," Buffy answered.

"Oh," Alec looked relieved, that they were earth bound like the rest of us.

"I don't remember hearing a car," Willow supplied, "

Xander, had a sudden epiphany, "I don't think the one that killed me drove," he said as an idea struck him, "I remember standing near the entrance to the door, before moving to get Willow, Jesse, and Amanda out, and I was moving back toward it," Xander admitted, "so I don't think that, Luc-fucker, came through the door."

Amanda smacked him in the back of the head, "language Alexander," she chided, when he looked about to protest, she got in his face, and in a dangerous, mother's tone said, "just because I say stuff like that, doesn't mean you can! I raised you better than to swear around a lady, didn't I," she hissed, indicating Buffy, Willow, and herself, "and you're still fifteen, regardless of your condition?"

"He killed me, Aunt Manda," but Xander looked in her unyielding eyes, then sighed in compliance, and cast his eyes down in contrition, then turning to his friends and his foremom, "I apologize for my language! I'll try not to use such language around you in the future, or wait until I'm 18," he said whipping his head up to look Amanda in the eyes defiantly.

She just smiled, and kissed his forehead, before continuing their discussion, "this Luc-guy, didn't run by me either, even if he was that fast my Quickening would've alerted me to his presence."

"Then let's take an enormous leap of intuition, and say they went underground," Giles suggested.

"Vampires really jam on sewer systems," Buffy agreed, "you can get anywhere in the entire town, without catching any rays." Then thinking of an alternative, added, "but I didn't see any access around there."

"Luc must've used, what was known in my mortal life, as the doorway to the underworld," Amanda suggested, then looking at their confused expressions, explained, "a portal that allowed the soul to enter and exit the tomb, while it was believed to be the actual gate to the realm of the dead, it also served to prevent the smells of decomposing corpses from leaking into the above ground area. It's hard to cherish the departed when you're breathing in the smell of decomp," Amanda quipped, "it was the first use of underground sewage systems in Europe, especially in cities like Paris or Rome."

"And there's an electrical tunnel, running under the whole town," Xander informed them, Amanda looked at him with a quirked eyebrow, asking how he knew that, "what, I read newspapers, and watch the news, plus on mom's better days, she liked to attend town meetings." Amanda nodded accepting his answers, Willow looked sad when he spoke of his mom, Buffy and Giles looked on in curiosity?

"If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system, it might indicate, a meeting place," Giles added sounding reluctant, then squaring his resolve suggested, "I suppose we could go to the building commission."

"We so, don't have time," Buffy grated in frustration.

Then Willow made her contribution, "Uh, guys, there may be another way," they looked at her waiting for her to continue, "most of the information we need can be accessed on the town website, and the cool part is," she stood up and walked over to the computer in the library, "sewage systems, the electrical tunnels, and other things like that are a matter of public record," she concluded with a pretty smile, "so we're not breaking any laws." They chuckled at her enthusiasm, while they waited for her to work her computer magic.

It took almost no time for Willow, to bring up the files on the sewer system, she accessed a chart on the sewers, scrolling until she found the graveyard. "There it is," Buffy pointed on the screen.

"That runs under the graveyard," Willow added.

"There's nothing here, this is useless," Buffy exclaimed, finally venting her frustration, while distancing herself from them.

"You're being too hard on yourself," Giles tried to console her.

She whipped around with hard eyes at Giles, "you're the one that told me, I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement," Buffy admitted! "I thought I was on top of everything, then that monster Luc came, he killed Xander, and then he totally kicked my ass."

"Buffy," Amanda said coming closer to her, Amanda's voice had a consoling quality to it, and as she placed her hands-on Buffy's shoulders, Buffy accepted the perceived comfort, when, "SLAP!" "Get the Hell over it," Amanda snapped, as Buffy brought her hand up to her left cheek, "you are not the only one in this room to taste defeat, I cannot even remember, the last time I didn't have to have my ass bailed out in a duel," Amanda admitted?! "So, you've lapsed in your training, big deal," she chided, "fix it, the time for autocastigation is over, and the time to step-up and take your obligation seriously is at hand!" Then leaning over, she whispered in Buffy's ear, "and I'm not talking about Slaying, because he's your partner, you now have a greater obligation to keep my Alec alive, and if you fail me, then so-help-me-God, I will. kill. you." Amanda stood back taking in Buffy's shocked face, she leaned forward and kissed the Vampire Slayer on both cheeks, "I'm so glad we understand each other."

Taking a deep breath, Buffy nodded, and in a whisper to Amanda, "I understand, Amanda, thanks for the swift kick." Then turning to the others, "the entrance is in the tomb, Darla must have double-backed with Jesse, after we all left," then turning to Amanda with a baleful glare, "and it probably wasn't the best idea to hold who are we meetings, on the bloodsucker's doormat?"

"So, let's saddle up," Xander said stepping forward, looking down into Buffy's eyes, "what's the plan, partner?"

"Buffy, Xander," Willow spoke up with hesitation, "I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters, but I do wanna help," then with a little more conviction said, "I need to do something."

That is when, Rupert Giles began to speak, to provide some form of comfort for the girl, "then help me, in researching this Harvest affair," he suggested while leaning over her to look more closely at the screen, "it seems to be some preordained massacre, 'Rivers of Blood… Hell on Earth,' quite charmless." He looked up at the partners, "I'm a bit fuzzy, however on the details, it may be, that you can wrest some information, on that dread machine," he finished head-pointing to the computer. At that statement, all eyes focused on Buffy's Watcher, at the ass he had just made of himself, and when realizing, he had bared his hatred for computers a little too vehemently, he felt embarrassed, "that was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"

Amanda was smirking in amusement, when she answered, "No, Mr. Giles, that was just right, tell us how you truly feel, about modern technology." Then in a lecturing tone added, "you've gotta get with the times, Rupert," Amanda said condescendingly, "or you'll be steamrolled by them."

Buffy chuckled in fondness, "Welcome to the new world." Then getting serious turned to her new partner, "Think you're ready, Xander," she asked looking him in the eyes, noting in passing how deep they are?

Xander looked back at her radiant, blue-eyes, then closing his eyes, taking a deep breath he opened his eyes, then shook his head, "No, I'm not ready, but who the Hell ever is, when these situations come." Then his eyes hardened as he looked at her, "but, I've got your back Buffy, whether we get Jesse back or not, alive, dead, or undead, that will never change."

"Okay, Xander," Buffy said looking up at him, "we'll have to go in before school, tomorrow, tonight when you get home with Amanda," she asked, looking quickly at the older Immortal, and getting a nod continued, "I want her to get you used to using a stake."

* * *

 **[Xander's Watcher]**

 _ **Summer's residence; After Work**_

Joyce Summers was enjoying her day, she had sold three out of four works of art, bringing in a hefty commission for herself, which was good money for the household. She had a great lunch, and more importantly, she had not been called by the school to report on the alleged delinquency of her daughter, Buffy. Now, at the end of her day, she wanted to kick back and soak her troubles away in a bubble-bath, before Buffy got home from her Crime Stopper's club meeting, a group she joined to help combat the growing crime spree in Sunnydale.

Buffy told Joyce, it was her way of making up for all the grief she caused, when she burnt-down her school auditorium. _Who better to talk to about crime avoidance, than a reformed criminal,_ Buffy reasoned this morning, when she told Joyce all about getting an invite from the Aunt of one of her new friends. The club was sponsored by the school librarian, who had begged Buffy to join her first day for the very same reasons Buffy told Joyce. Joyce was just happy that her daughter was turning her experience, into something positive, instead of wallowing in the past.

Joyce had just walked in and shut the front door, when there was a knock, at the door she just walked through. Looking bewildered she turned back and opened the door, only for a man to hand her an envelope. Before turning and walking back to a waiting automobile, Joyce did not have to wonder what it was about, the symbol on the front, where the return address would usually sat said it all. It was, mostly blue, with a tandem circle and 13-points between the circles, in the was an abstract design that always reminded Joyce of mountains, it was the symbol of a secret society called the Watcher Network. Dedicated to watching and recording the activities, of a race of human beings called Immortals, who participated in a contest, they called, The Game. Where they fought in single-combat to the death, via beheading, and absorbing an energy known as the Quickening. They would fight, until only one remained to collect some sort of Prize, one that even they did not know much about.

Joyce was introduced to Immortals, in 1985, Buffy was two, and they were visiting her family, Buffy was spending time with her dad, and Joyce was just relaxing in their room. When she witnessed two of these beings, fighting, on a rooftop in New York, they very nearly destroyed the Silvercup studio sign. She was close enough, that she was able to snap multiple photos of the spectacle, before the two combatants fell through a skylight. While the two fighters, never saw her, a man named Adam Pierson (Methos) approached her door, he told her he saw her taking pictures of the event. Against her better judgement, Joyce let him in, and that is when, he explained to her about Immortals, and the Game, and a little about the Hunt, just not what they Hunted.

That night, she joined the Watcher Network as a reserve member, and kept that status until last year, right after her daughter was sent to the Juvenile Correction Center. Then her marriage fell apart, she filed for separation, and with nobody to come home to, she applied for Watcher status. She graduated 25th in her class of 100 and had merely been awaiting an Immortal to Watch. Even in the Watcher Academy, they never explained the Hunt, they said specifics of the Hunt, were only divulged to Watchers who witnessed a Hunt.

Joyce moved into the bathroom, removing her clothes, she inspected her body in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, her reflection cast behind her, was in line with the mirror over the sink. There, high on her neck was a tattoo, the Watcher's Mark, her hair, was long enough to hide it from general view. It was her badge as a Watcher.

Turning to the envelope in her hands, she opened it and extracted two photos, and on the back was a brief overview of the two, the first of a dark-haired woman, in a pixie-cut, taken while said woman was performing the high-wire act, in a circus. The information that went with her read: Name(s): Amanda La Velle, aka, Amanda Darrieux, aka, Amanda Deveraux, or the Amazing Amanda; Age: 1,178; Year of First Death: 850; Birthplace: Normandy, France; Most common occupation(s): Thief, con-artist, outlaw, high-wire performer; Moral leanings: Neutral-Good. The second photo was a yearbook photo of a young man, similar hair-color to the woman, but his hair was unkempt, and he looked like he loved to laugh. His information was sparse: Name(s): Alexander Lavelle Harris; Age 15; Year of First Death: 1998; Birthplace: Sunnydale, CA; Most common occupation(s): Student of Sunnydale High School; Moral leanings: Unknown. Joyce's eyes moistened when she saw the date of First Death, and the age, thinking about how she would feel, if Buffy became an Immortal, or if something else similar happened to her. _I hope I would be able to handle it, and accept it eventually, not like I could change anything._ Joyce heard the front door close, and her daughter's voice call out, "MOM, ARE YOU HOME!?"


	2. The Harvest

**[Neighbors]**

 **House-warming**

 _ **Summers Residence: Next Morning**_

The knock on the door causes Joyce and Buffy to look up from their breakfasts, they look bewildered for a second, before the younger woman remembers where she was going this morning. Last night, Joyce and Buffy, were almost like their old selves with each other, and for almost the same reasons.

Buffy because, she finally found someone, in which she could share her nights with. When Buffy first learned of her Slayer destiny, Merrick was adamant that she keep her identity secret, from everybody. Merrick's reasons, now that Buffy thought about them, were good and solid, and she agreed with them. Her anonymity gave him time to train her and bring her up to speed on all things Slayer, and later it helped keep her family safe; it prevented the vampires from targeting her family and friends and using them against her. The same was true for when she moved here to Sunnydale, although when she arrived, her covert status was more of an attempt to hide from who and what she is. When she and Joyce moved here, all she wanted to do was divorce herself from her Slayer duties, to just become Buffy the cheerleader, or even just Buffy the new girl. She definitely, did not want to become, Buffy the Vampire Slayer again, especially if she had to do it alone. Now, the idea of a partner to share this aspect of her life with, appealed to the teenage girl, it made the prospect of Slaying, feel much less lonely, and it made Slaying much more palatable.

Then there was Joyce, yesterday came her first Watcher assignment since joining the organization in 1985. Joyce never told her husband, anything about the Watchers, let alone Immortals and their Game, not only was she not allowed, nor that Henry Summers would believe her if she did, but for some reason, she did not trust him with this material. Joyce never had any intention of telling Hank about her link to the organization, and she did not understand why, maybe subconsciously, she already did not trust him, or maybe it was something as petty as being the only one in a room, as far as she knew, to know such a powerful secret. For twelve years, she was married to him, and she kept her secret. Then everything with Buffy happened, and instead of sticking by her, and their daughter, he washed his hands of both of them, and ran away. When Hank left and filed for divorce, and while Buffy was in prison, Joyce decided to do something for herself, and that's when she applied for Watcher status. Yesterday was the culmination of her struggles, the one positive that came from the disintegration of her family, and thus, Joyce Summers would hang onto this chance. When she received the package containing the details on Amanda La Velle, and Alexander Lavelle Harris, serendipity filled the moment, and in that moment, Joyce knew, finally knew, her life meant something. Joyce's life as a wife was over, and her time as a mother, while never-ending as long as her daughter yet lived, was nearing the end of the primary caregiver stage, in three years when Buffy turned 18, Joyce would only have herself to look after. Now, with her assignment, when that time ended, Joyce would have something that gave her purpose.

A second rap of knuckles on wood, shakes them out of their own musings. Joyce stands heading to the door, and Buffy trails behind her mother, just as a precaution in case the vamps knew where she lived already. The door swung open, and on their porch was the young man, unknowingly becoming the intersection of the two women's lives. Alexander Lavelle Harris was dressed in what could only be called biker gear. From his feet up, he wore a pair of well-worn black-leather cowboy boots, tucked under the cuffs of a pair of blue-jeans made for riding, a crimson turtleneck sweater was pulled-on over Xander's torso, down to his wrists, and over that, Xander wore a denim jacket, which the sleeves, oddly enough, only went down to his elbows. He smiled as he saw Joyce on the other side of the door, "hello, my name's Xander, I'm looking for a Buffy Summers."

Joyce just looked at him, before shaking herself out of her amazement that the Immortal she was assigned to Watch yesterday, stood in her door. During her training with the academy, they said it was not unheard of for the Watcher to interact with their Immortal, and the best way to deal with it, was to act like you did not know the person you were talking to, was alive when America was still the New World, or before it was even known about. _Just treat them like you would anybody else,_ her instructors told them, _like you don't know they're Immortal._

"Xander," Buffy called from behind her mother, then smiling in welcome, "good morning," she said coming around her mom and pulling him inside, "mom you remember, I said a friend was coming by today to take me to school?"

Joyce snapped out of her shock, closed the door, and turned to look at them with a smile, "Of course I remember," she retorted, then looked pointedly at her daughter, "you didn't tell me it was a boy taking you to school though."

Buffy blushed before replying, "Mom, it's not like that, we've only just met, and he's taking me with him today, because we have a Crime Stoppers Club meeting before school."

Joyce saw a golden opportunity, "still, I want to get to know who you're spending time with," she said firmly, taking Xander by the hand and pulling him by his arm. "Please Xander, come in," Joyce ordered.

"Yes Ma'am," Xander accepted politely, though he could tell it was not a request. She dragged him into the kitchen and sat him down at one of the four chairs, without a partially consumed meal in front of it.

Joyce smiled at his manners, and Buffy still blushing followed them into the kitchen. "Buffy and I were just having breakfast," the Slayer's mother informed him, "could I get you something while we finish?"

Xander thought, _Aunt Manda always taught me to accept food wherever it was offered, you never know when your next meal will come_ , then nodded, "I don't want to be too much trouble, so any kind of cereal you have will be fine, Mrs. Summers." Joyce smiled as she walked over to the cabinets and took down a bowl, then continued fixing his cereal, while he and Buffy exchanged a look. They shrugged their shoulders and sat down, making small-talk until Buffy's mother brought him his bowl, before sitting down to finish her own meal.

Between bites, the three occupants of the breakfast table chatted, and Joyce though nice about it, interrogated him. "So, Xander, that's an unusual name," she asked, "where does it come from?"

"Mom," Buffy warned.

"It's okay, Buff," Xander told her graciously, "Mrs. Summers, wouldn't be much of a parent, if she didn't get to know who her daughter hung out with," Buffy receded, and Joyce smiled at his attitude.

"Xander, please call me, Joyce," she told him, this too was an order, "Mrs. Summers, is no longer who I am, anymore."

This time when Buffy said, "Mom," it was full of compassion and not a little bit of hurt, but even Xander could tell Buffy was not hurt by what her mother said, but by something else.

Xander decided to break the tension by explaining his name, as Joyce asked, "My full name is Alexander Lavelle Harris, and I'm not ashamed of that," Xander added, "at least not anymore. I was named after my maternal grandfather, who died on Okinawa in WWII," he explained to their nods to continue. "Xander was the name given to me by Willow," he said looking at Buffy, then turning to Joyce, "my best friend since kindergarten, she had a hard-time saying Alexander and the name stuck. Flashforward to middle school, and there were a surplus of 'Al's and Alexes', so to try and stand out, I started introducing myself as Xander," he was smiling as the memories flooded his mind. Coming back to the present he finished explaining, "Lavelle is a family name from my mother's side as well, though now, instead of a last name as it was originally, which I found out two days ago, it's now a given name."

Joyce smiled warmly in understanding, "that's a very colorful history of your name, so the only thing you took from your father's side was his last name."

Xander's face darkened, "Yeah," he spat, "that and my stature, according to my mother, and my Aunt Manda," then remembering to whom he was speaking, gave an apologetic grin and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry for snapping, Joyce," he apologized, "but my father is a sore-spot for me, because I don't remember him much," he explained, "he deserted my family when I was two, just walked out, leaving me and my mother to fend for ourselves," Xander's bitterness was subdued, yet palpable. Buffy laid a hand on his, and when he turned, he was not surprised by her compassion for him, what did amaze him was the look of understanding, as if, she went through the same thing, only more recent.

Joyce winced at her callousness in opening old wounds, "I'm sorry if my questions are too painful, Xander," she too laid her hand on his arm, "I just want to know who you are, I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"It's okay, Joyce," Xander replied graciously. "I get, wanting to know who Buffy hangs around with, all the _evils_ in this world," Xander looked pointedly at Buffy, when he said, ' _evils_ ', to which Buffy gave the barest of head-shakes, "I bet it takes an enormous amount of faith, to even let her walk out the door."

Joyce could only nod sagely at Xander's comments, "Thank you, Xander for being so understanding," then looking at Buffy with a warm smile, "my daughter **is** my greatest treasure, and my **most** treasured accomplishment. I do not know, what would happen to **me** , if something bad, ever happened to **her**." Joyce was looking at Buffy as she was saying that, and Buffy ducked her head, and blushed from the sentiment her mother was showing her. She blinked rapidly to keep her eyes from flooding, and her emotions from getting the best of her.

Xander and Joyce smirked at the teenaged girl, then Xander looked Joyce in the eye, and grew serious, "As long as I'm alive, Joyce," he began, "and there to protect her, no harm will ever come to Buffy; So, help me God," his vow was passionate, and looking in his eyes, Joyce saw the sincerity brimming within them.

He meant every word he was saying, and Joyce just looked back at him, "See that you do Xander, as long as you stay true to it, and the spirit of that vow, by Christ, you will be welcome within these, or any walls I may own, or have authority over; So, help me God," Joyce accepted his vow, with one of her own.

It was Buffy that broke the moment, "Okay, this is a little too heavy for a morning," she said, standing to take her dishes to the sink, "Xander, we need to go if we don't want to be late." She hurried up to her room and grabbed her spare backpack from her bed. It was a good thing she completed her homework yesterday, before the meeting. This way, she would not have to explain the extra bulk, because she left all her books in her locker last night.

When she reached the bottom floor, Xander and her mom were waiting near the door. "Okay," Buffy said, "let's get going, we're _burning_ the sunlight away," she told him pointedly.

"Right," Xander affirmed, then he turned to the matriarch and extended his hand, "Joyce, it was a pleasure to meet you, now I know why Buffy, looks as good as she does. She gets it from her mother."

Joyce blushed and giggled at his flattery, "why thank you, Xander," she preened, "and you're welcome here, anytime."

Buffy blushed beet-red at his compliment to her by way of her mother, and in embarrassment grabbed his arm in one hand, casually noting how firm and muscular it felt, then the door in the other hand, and said, "Come _on_ , Xander!"

They opened the door and ran out, on the street in front of the house was a red Triumph motorcycle, sporting a set of saddlebags, and hanging on the bitch-seat's bitch bar, was another blue denim jacket, that was a slightly smaller version of the jacket Xander wore. Buffy stopped for a second at the sight of the bike, which gave Xander a chance to step in front of her, giving her an unobstructed view of the back of his jacket. On the back was a crimson-red cross, running from his neck, down his spine to the bottom of his jacket, and the cross-section, connected his shoulder-blades. Buffy hurried up to him, but not before her mother saw the jacket from the porch, "Xander, where did you get that jacket," Joyce asked?

He looked back at her, then craned his neck to see what she meant, then looked at her as he finally seemed to understand, "my uncle Roger, my mother's middle brother and my mother, were members of the Knights Templar motorcycle gang, this cross was their colors, they may have flouted a law or two, but they had strong beliefs in Christ. They never hurt anybody too badly either, they mostly combatted social injustice," Xander explained. "They were great allies with the Black Panthers in the seventies, but mostly they would escort Vietnam Vets home to prevent their disrespect. The only times they hurt anybody, was when said person spit on a service man's uniform," Xander finished his explanation, and noticed Joyce's eyes gleaming with approval. Then coming out of her stupor, shooed them and went back into the house, she did not seem to have an issue with her daughter driving off, on the back of a motorcycle, nor how a fifteen-year-old was legally allowed to drive a motorcycle.

Buffy had listened to her friend and mother talk, and she listened intently, as she had questions of her own, "how are you able to drive this in public, you're fifteen?"

Xander smiled, "for motorcycles, all you need is your learner's and you can get your license, as long as you pass the written exam, you can get your motorcycle license. I still have to wait until I'm sixteen to get my official Driver's License."

Buffy nodded, as she approached him and his machine, "then why don't you drive it to school," she asked?

Xander's smile turned to a smirk, "two reasons; you have to be sixteen to get a campus parking sticker, and school policy prohibits students from riding motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds on campus, only students with actual cars can park on campus."

Buffy nodded, "so what's with the jacket," she asked?

Xander's grinned turned sheepish, "everything I told your mother, about the jacket is fact," he told her defensively, then continued as he pulled the other jacket off the bike, "but the main reason I brought them out, was to give ourselves something of an edge. I talked to Amanda about them, and she told me, knights in the Middle Ages wore crosses on their backs to keep the devil from attacking them from behind, so it gave me an idea. We're literally, going into the belly-of-the-beast today, and I think we need something to keep the actual demons, or at least meat wearing demons, off our backs." As he finished saying that, he furled the jacket he was holding, to show her a jacket like his, with a cross similar to the one on his back, only it was small enough to fit a woman her size, and instead of a crimson-red cross, a cross of ivory-white stood on the back. "This one was my mother's, she was a junior member of the Templars," Xander explained.

Buffy was blushing again as she accepted the jacket, in any other circumstance a girl accepting a jacket like this from a boy, would mean they were going steady. At least, that was how it was interpreted at her old school, _we're not dating, he hasn't asked me out yet, we just met,"_ she stated to herself, _we're not dating,_ yet.

 _ **Sunnydale Cemetery: mid-morning**_

Xander's bike pulled in through the gates of the cemetery, he found a public parking area for grievers to visit their dead relatives. He and Buffy backed into a parking space, and he shut off the engine. Buffy got off first, she would deny that she was reluctant, to cease pressing herself into Xander's back while they rode. She would not deny, how closely she held him, and how tight, but would only site motorcycle safety as the reason. Xander dismounted after the Slayer, and turned to grin at her sheepishly, he on the other hand, would not deny anything, he loved feeling her pressed against him.

Buffy was wearing the jacket he gave her, and her backpack, stuffed full of vampire gear, skinny-jeans, and a cream-colored long-sleeved, zipped up sweater. As soon as, Xander dismounted the bike, Buffy began to walk away, but that is when Xander halted her, "wait Buffy, I have to get some things from my saddlebags."

Buffy turned back bewildered by what he meant, "like what, Xander?"

Xander stepped up to the saddlebag on the right and opened it, from inside came a round shotgun shell bandolier, but instead of shotgun shells, each slot was filled with seven-inch-long stakes along a third of the length. The rest of the bandolier, was filled with several tubes, wrapped in paper at about the width of the shotgun shells that once filled the slots. In total, there were twelve slots strung along the bandolier, four of which were filled with stakes, two for each hand, and eight filled with the paper tubes. When he looked at Buffy, her eyes were bright with curiosity, then placing his hands along the eight tubes he explained, "Cherry Bombs."

"Xander, bombs won't hurt vamps, any more than guns or knives," Buffy chided him!

Xander's smile got even bigger, "they will, when their filled with garlic powder and rock-salt, Buffy."

Buffy's eyes got huge, "I never thought of that, I've only ever used the methods, I was taught by my first Watcher," then she began to giggle, "you're brilliant, Xander." She rushed over and threw her arms around him.

Xander blushed at her compliment, then even more at her hug, "Aw, it's nothing, I did run it by Amanda, to see if the concept would work."

Buffy stepped back, "oh, it'll work, garlic powder, and salt," Buffy assured him, "the protector and the purifier, I mean they may not kill them outright, especially some of the older ones, but it could definitely back them off, or disorient them and give us time to stake them."

Xander was pleased that Buffy liked his ideas, and took her arms from around him, "give me a minute and I'll show you something else you may like." Buffy nodded, as Xander stepped back to the Triumph; from the saddlebag, he brought out two leather forearm protectors. Which he strapped to his forearm, into the leather was branded a fish like glyph, it was the Ichthys symbol, an early Christian symbol as old as the cross.

The next item from the saddlebag was a harness that went around his hips; _which I am_ _ **not**_ _looking at, thank you very much_ , Buffy scolded herself; the harness contained two sheathes, that he tied along his thighs with a string of leather. Xander finishes, by taking two of the biggest knives she has ever seen from the saddlebag and homed them, one in each sheathe. Buffy of course, knew what they were, his Butterfly swords, they were tied to his very existence now, to be without those little swords could mean certain death for him at the hands of the Immortal coming to kill him.

Buffy licked her lips in nervousness, "So, how does it feel," she asked, and when he looked up with a quirked eyebrow at her? She nodded her head toward his Butterfly Swords, "having to wear those constantly, so some idiot with a blade won't chop off your head or doing the same to them, to stay alive. How does it feel," she asked again?

Xander looked down in thought for a moment, then still staring at the parking lot he answered, "Since I am still unbloodied," he began, "I feel like a rookie police officer who has never fired his weapon, except to qualify on the range, or maybe like a soldier who has only ever trained, never in an actual combat situation. What I mean is, I'm still getting used to carrying these around all the time," Xander told his friend, then he turned his gaze to her, "how did you feel when you first became a Slayer, but hadn't yet taken out your first vampire?"

Buffy looked at him, then understood, in many ways a fledgling Slayer, and an infant Immortal were pretty much the same, both had been thrust into a world beyond their understanding, and without their choice in the matter. The difference though was after they made their first kills, they might feel different, there was no deluding themselves, for Slayers, into believing vampires were human. The first time Buffy staked a vampire, she did not feel even the same remorse she would have felt, if she had Slain a rat, she even felt a little proud of her accomplishment. The first time Xander took an Immortal head, there would be no deluding himself into believing, he had not just caused the death of a fellow human-being, and all for some gain, the Prize, he was not even sure was worth it. Buffy had not known this boy for more than a few days, but she believed that for him, it was not for this Prize, he would be fighting to acquire, for Xander, he would fight for survival, his, his family, and for those he counted as friends. Buffy hoped that she, was at least accounted among the latter, as a friend of this Immortal being that now shared the trials of a Slayer with her.

Hoping to change the subject, and get their minds on business, Buffy asked, "did Amanda drill you in staking last night, like I asked?" Her voice was disarming, and seemed distant to Xander, and should have sent warning flares up in his mind.

Xander, like a lamb to slaughter, innocently answered, "Oh yeah, after making a few pitstops on the way home to get supplies for _these_ babies," he told her indicating the Cherry Bombs in two-thirds of the slots, "and running a few errands to get supplies for another innovation, I'm gonna show you, in a minute. We spent most of the rest of the night in the backyard, either sparring with _these_ ," he said, thumbing the swords at his hips, then bringing his hand up to the four stakes in the bandolier, "or with one of _these_ in both hands."

"Good," Buffy replied simply, before connecting a right-fist to the boy's chin. The blow was enough to rock him back on his heels sending him back-first over the motorcycle, and onto the ground. Xander was immediately on his feet just in time to see Buffy leap over the downed bike right at him, sending a knee squarely in his face. Xander sidestepped from the path of the knee, and dropped low before shuffling his feet, causing him to end up right behind the Slayer. Buffy landed just a few feet away from Xander, before glancing behind her just to see the boy still low, rotate his hips sending his feet sweeping toward her legs. Buffy launched into a jumping-back spin-kick, aiming for Xander's head, who countered with a direct block to her kicking leg, forearm up against her lower calf, palm against the upper. Xander, followed it up with a swinging crane-wing punch (1) to Buffy's stomach, then a tiger's claw (2) directly into her sternum, the crane punch turned into an uppercut, leopard punch (3) aimed at the Slayer's solar plexus. The strike would have landed, if Buffy did not perform a sweeping block, against Xander's arm, but the shot at the center of Buffy's chest was a feint, to get her to turn her torso, which put her at a disadvantage because almost the instant the target came into Xander's view, he struck. One, two, three, four, five…, Xander unleashed 5 jab-like punches (4) into Buffy's exposed side in one second. He did not get a chance for a sixth, because she grabbed his wrist and pulled, to bring him out of his crouch, before releasing her hold on his arm then dropping to the ground into a spin, to bring her leg behind his ankle in a sweep.

Rather than allow himself to be swept uncontrollably off his feet, he crouched into a backward somersault, but as he was coming back up, he pulled one of the stakes from his bandolier. Buffy was charging into him just as he was coming up, and saw the stake at the last minute, and using her Slayer strength and reflexes, she stopped his upward thrust cold, millimeters from going into her chest cavity. They were both breathing hard, and her face was unreadable for a second before her face lit up with a smile, and she relinquished her hold on him. "What… was that…," Xander demanded while out of breath, "what… the fuck… was that, Buffy?"

Buffy did not flinch at his vulgarity, in this situation it _was_ justified, but so was what just happened, "I needed to test you, Xander," she told him. "Where we're going is not a video game," she told him, voice as hard as granite, "there is no room for hesitation, or second guessing, the vampires won't wait until you're ready to attack you. I needed to know what you were made of before we went into an actual situation," Buffy's tone became apologetic as she continued to explain herself, "and what your instincts were when you pulled that stake."

Xander looked down, the stake was still in hand, he put it away, "Okay, I get it, we're partners but you are the senior partner, with the greater experience killing monsters. That was part of the deal we struck yesterday," he remembered, "I defer to you on killing monsters, if you hang back when an Immortal comes calling."

"As long as I can act as your second, when you have to fight one of them," Buffy reminded him, "gotta make sure everything is kosher in the duel." Then Buffy steps forward and hugs him, "I'm sorry for attacking you, Xander," she sounded sincere, "and from here on out we're partners, I promise to never attack you again, outside of training spars."

"I forgive you, Buffy," then looking behind her at the bike laying on the ground, after she knocked him over it, "but you better not have damaged my Rocket, Buffy," he growled intensely, and stepped around her and hurried to the bike! He righted it, then got on it and started her up, when the engine purred to life, and he revved the engine, he breathed a sigh of relief. After shutting her down again, he got off and looked at her pointedly, but he was smirking, "you're lucky, Buffy," he admonished her, "if my Rocket had been wrecked because of you, I would've demanded another spar," his eyes hardened in a challenging glare, "and I would've kicked your ass again."

Buffy's eye, rose at the challenge, "Again," her voice sounding surprised, "since when have you _ever_ kicked my ass," she asked? Turning to look down at her own butt, "I don't recall you ever defeating me, not once!"

Xander was nodding good-naturedly at her, "yep, memory loss, it happens during traumatic events, your mind must be trying to shield you from the humiliation you suffered just now."

"It cannot shield me from things that never happened," Buffy retorted in a neutral voice, then moving closer to him, she turned her backside to face him, "do you see any bruises on my ass, Alexander," she said in a husky voice? The effect was instantaneous, his eyes suddenly bulged out of their sockets, he began to stammer, and his neck suddenly went stiff. She giggled, _at least now I know he finds me attractive. I can just about guess what's going through his head, right now. [Does she really want me to ogle her; {I won't be mad if he does, gives a girl confidence, as long as he still remembers, I'm Buffy, not a piece of meat.}; if so, does that mean she likes me; {I do like him, but not ready to date yet, just moved here.}; if not, would she remain my friend if I did look? {I don't mind if he looks, and I would never let something so small ruin such a promising friendship, he's my partner now.}?] He's cute when he's like this, why haven't any of the women at this school snapped him up, oh well?_ Buffy had her fun, but it was time to get serious again, "come on, Xander, we've used half-an-hour already, let's go," she ordered, while tugging him by the forearm protectors to follow her.

Alexander Lavelle Harris had another surprise for Buffy Ann Summers, "not so fast," he said pulling his arm from the Slayer's grasp. She turned to look at him, eyes raised again, but he answered her question before she could ask, "there's something else I put together this morning, before I came to get you."

"What," Buffy asked in anticipation, if he could find innovation using cherry bombs, what else could he come up with she wondered?

Xander went back to his Rocket, as he had named her for her mod name, he went to the saddlebag opposite from where he got the bandolier and the rest. Luckily, it was the side opposite the side she fell over on, so that saddlebag was safe. He opened it and pulled out… "A super-soaker," Buffy asked incredulously? In his hand were two of the said squirt-guns, they had the same bright and festive colors the manufacturer gave them, but instead of the rifle configuration, these two were configured as hand gun types, no stock, just a handle and a pump.

Xander just grinned, "a super-soaker filled with holy-water," he corrected her.

Buffy's eyes again went wide, _oh, God, why didn't I ever think of that, why didn't anybody, squirt guns have been around for-like-ever?_ "Explain," she asked hoarsely.

Xander just smiled, "the errands I told you about before your testing, one was to Wal-Mart® to get the super-soaker and to get a gallon of water. After that, Amanda, and me, went to visit the local Catholic Church, and she made a sizable donation to the Church, if the priests would bless anything we brought to them, no questions asked," he explained to her. Then grinned as he remembered something, "the Bishop, Father Michael, agreed, but only if we didn't want them to bless a body part or something."

Buffy laughed at that stipulation, but had to ask, "what kind of person, would want just a single body part blessed, why not the whole body," she had to ask, but knew the answer before he spoke?

Xander smirked, as he handed Buffy her water-gun, "probably the same people, that buy insurance policies on single body-parts. Let's go, partner," Xander said, as he suddenly got serious, "let's go get Jesse," he said intensely, "or put him out of his misery," he said with finality.

The partners approached the gateway of the mausoleum, for Xander it brought back mixed feelings. It was the site of his death, and the site of his rebirth as an Immortal, he was unable to make up his mind on how he felt about that. They got within fifteen feet of the tomb that would have been his, two nights ago, when he felt brain-freeze. "Oh my God," Xander growled his exclamation clutching his head, Buffy turned to look at him in concern!

"Xander," Buffy asked urgently, "what's wrong?!"

"I feel like, I just ate a popsicle a little too fast, Buffy," Xander informed her, then looking at her and smiled ruefully, pointedly looking at the mausoleum, "you know what that means!"

Buffy followed his gaze to the tomb, "Yes, I do," _there's a vampire in there, normally I would avoid going into a trap, which this most likely is, but…_ she turned to Xander with searching eyes. "It's up to you, Xander," she told him, her look giving nothing away of her opinion, "Jesse's _your_ friend, whatever you wish to do, we'll do it, and I know that whether we go forward, or retreat will be for the best."

Xander nodded, as he gave the idea some intense thought, _I can't give up on Jesse, if our roles were reversed, he wouldn't give up unless, there really was no other way, he wouldn't stop without exhausting all possible routes. Me and Buffy have come this far, how could I face Willow and say we went as far as we could but only got within sight of the entrance, and retreated because I got a headache?_ He suddenly stood up straighter, "half the effect of an ambush is surprise, they no longer have that with me as your partner, let's move forward, and come what may," his voice was determined, his nerves were relaxed, but he was alert as he spoke his opinion.

Despite what she said, Buffy was glad he chose to move forward, she did not lie, when she would not have blamed him if he chose either path. This way, she now knew what kind of friend he was, and became all the more determined to acquire his friendship, _and perhaps, something more in the future._ "Let's go then," she nodded.

Just before they entered the Crypt, Buffy opened her backpack, it would be cumbersome to maneuver with it in the tunnels, hence it's disposal. She took two stakes and secreted them in the sleeves of her new jacket, the one Xander gave her, two more she placed within the surprisingly deep inner pockets of her new jacket. While she normally kept a canteen of holy-water with her when she went Slaying, with Xander's Holy-Soaker, as she called it in her mind, she did not think she would need it, the Soakers were slung over their shoulders by a strap provided by the water-gun's manufacturer. They approached the entrance, and Xander pulled a couple of stakes from the bandolier, he moved around and positioned himself so that he would be the first to enter.

Buffy kept a stake handy in her left, while grasping the handle in her right. Then looking at Xander to see if he was ready, at his nod she tugged open the door, and he bolted inside until he reached the threshold. Buffy entered but paused right at the entrance and brought a cross into her left hand, before descending the stairs into the darkness of the tomb.

* * *

(1) Crane-Wing Punch - a strike, where the striking surface is the wrist of the striker, usually targeting soft-tissue, like the belly, the throat, or the groin

(2) Tiger's Claw - the most powerful strike in martial arts, if performed properly, similar to a palm strike, but with the fingers curled slightly to lend strength, usually used to target the sternum, elbows, and knees

(3) Leopard Punch - the hand is made into a fist, except the fingers are only curled to the second knuckle, mostly targeting the soft tissue, like the belly, the throat, the groin, and certain blood vessels with precision

(4) x number of rapidly thrown strikes - Wing chun technique: masters have been known to throw 100 such strikes in a single second

* * *

 **Knocking on the Door**

 _ **Bloodsucker Front Porch: Delavega Tomb: five minutes later**_

Buffy and Xander moved through the tomb, Xander's feeling was getting more intense, as if he was getting closer to the source, he panned his head around, homing in on what his Quickening was telling him. They almost reached the Gate to the Underworld, as Aunt Manda called it, when his otherworldly senses spiked, and he lashed out to his left. His forearm protector connected with a chin, then following through with his training, he brought his right arm up with the pommel of the stake, right into the broad forehead of the vampire. Who hissed and was already recoiling from the ichthys glyph on the forearm protector, but was truly thrown for a loop, by something on the pommel. The vampire slammed back into the wall hard, but just as Xander was about to bring his stake around to end him, Buffy yelled, "Xander, stop!"

"What," Xander asked, "why?"

"Because," she said, "I know him, he was outside the Bronze two nights ago, before I got there," she explained to her partner, "he gave me this," she said pointing to the silver crucifix dangling around her neck.

Xander noted the necklace, placing the point of the stake over the vampire's heart then quickly looking away from his prey, at Buffy's chest. Idly noting the swell of her bust, he looked back at the downed vampire, then quickly standing up and away from him. "What's your point," Xander asked, "couldn't he have been turned since then, Jesse most likely has?"

"It's possible, even probable, on both counts," Buffy conceded as they watched the vampire try to get to his feet. She noticed a mark, that looked like the spokes of a wheel, imprinted, and still smoking on his forehead, even the small imprint of a line from Xander's forearm protectors crossing the vamp's chin. As Xander backed up to stand next to her, Buffy added, "I think, he was already a vampire, when he gave it to me though," the vampire finally made it to his feet and looked at both of them, Xander with rage, and Buffy with confusion.

The vampire looked between Xander and the Slayer, before focusing on her, "who's the kid?"

Buffy's smile never reached her eyes, "my partner, his name is Xander," she offered, not ashamed of the boy at all, not with how well he reacted to the vampire in front of them, let alone his gifts. _Son of a bitch, I really need to get better at the non-physical abilities of Slayers,_ she mused, _I had no idea this guy was a vamp,_ she shivered in shame at herself, _I can't believe I even thought he was hot._ "Anyway, thank you, for the gift," she said pointing to the cross, "how did you even touch it? What's your name by the way?"

The vampire nodded, "a handkerchief," he answered shortly, "I'm Angel," then looking at Xander, "so are you her Watcher or something?"

Buffy and Xander looked at each other, and Buffy nodded, she would follow his lead, "You could say something like that, but I'm in training," Xander informed Angel. "A vampire helping the Slayer," the partners exchanged another look, before Xander faced the vamp again, "I watch a lot of nature shows in my spare time, so, isn't that like a hyena," he said indicating Angel, then thumb-pointing to Buffy, "helping a lioness hunt other hyenas?"

While they were talking, Buffy was putting her hair up in a ponytail. Angel and Xander eyed each other, but Xander, still holding the stakes, had his arms folded over his surprisingly broad chest, both ichthys glyphs pointed straight at Angel. They were even better than a cross at keeping him back, Angel could not take a step closer, the mark on his forehead and the one on his chin were still not healing, whatever they were, they seemed to exceed crosses in power and holiness. "Let's just say, the purposes of the Master and myself are crossed," Angel explained, "that'll have to do for now."

Buffy and Xander looked at each other and shrugged, then she turned her back and walked further, and when Angel saw the cross on her back, he started getting a headache. She walked to the Gate of the Underworld, "You wouldn't happen to have a key, would you," Buffy asked, still facing the Gate?

Angel gave a lopsided grin, "they _really_ don't like me dropping in," he said from his position.

Xander backed toward Buffy, keeping Angel in his sights at all times, "family reunions must be a bitch for you," Xander commented, looking at the vampire who's eyes grew slightly wider for an instant.

"Why not," Buffy asked?

"They really don't like me," Angel answered.

"How could that possibly be," she asked as she turned with hands on hips?

"Yeah, you seem like a stand-up guy," Xander quipped, "what, with you aiding their sworn enemy," he added sarcastically, "I can't guess why they don't like you?"

Angel ignored what Xander was saying, "I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later," then after thinking replied sarcastically, "actually I thought it was going to be a little sooner."

"Sorry to make you wait," Buffy told him.

"Besides," Xander broke in, "according to Sun Tzu's the Art of War, 'to be victorious, fight when the adversary expects you to retreat, retreat when you are expected to fight,' if we'd come right when we figured where the bloodsuckers lair, they would've been prepared, while we would not," Xander explained.

At this, the Vampire eyed him in skepticism, "really, so you… _planned_ not to come here until now?"

"Yeah," Buffy put in quickly, "why do you think, we chose a bright sunny day like today to do it," she asked him, "this is a school day after all, and I'd much rather be in class right now?"

"Why is that so hard to believe," Xander asked, "we had to do a research paper on a philosopher, in Social Studies last year as part of our final grade, I chose Sun Tzu, the Philosopher of War?"

Buffy turned to the gate, "Don't… go down there," Angel asked as he attempted to take a step closer but continued to be repelled, by Xander and Ichthys."

"Deal with my going," she retorted.

"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk," Angel entreated, "tonight, is the Harvest, unless you can prevent it, the Master walks," he told them, looking both in the eyes!

"Well, if this Harvest is such a suck-fest, why don't you stop it," Buffy challenged?

And the vampire closed his eyes and chuckled, like pulling teeth he admitted, when he opened his eyes, "because I'm afraid."

That admission, from one such as him, underscored just how bad this Harvest could truly become. Vampires, unless you know how, are pretty durable, as long as they have a steady supply of blood, they could heal indefinitely and just keep going, if this one was afraid, then they should be terrified, and he was apparently old enough that he could brave the sun, to be here to give them this warning. Buffy turned and with one powerful kick, snapped the chain forcing the door open, "we don't have the luxury of fear, bloodsucker," she told him, then looked back over her shoulder with a coy smile at him.

Angel smirked, "They'll be expecting you," he said to her, "though maybe your partner could make the difference down there."

Xander nodded, grateful to the vampire for his acknowledgement, "We have a friend down there, Angel," he informed the other 'man?', "he wouldn't leave me, and I'm damn sure not going to abandon him."

"Or at least, a potential friend to me," Buffy added, "do you remember what it means to have friends?" Angel did not answer, and Buffy saw real emotion cross his eyes, "that wasn't supposed to be a head-scratcher."

Shaking off his emotions, "when you hit the tunnels, head east toward the school," he offered, "that's where you're likely to find them."

"You gave us some valuable intel on our enemy, Angel," she told him in an overly-sweet voice, "so you get a hall-pass for now, we won't actively Hunt you, unless two things happen," she tells him turning to face him fully, "first; you attack us, or contact our families at our places of residence, or places of employment," she said holding up a finger, "and two; you feed, and make more vampires," she finished holding up a second finger, "you do one or both, Angel, then ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Buffy's eyes were harder than steel as she laid down the law of Angel, "do we make ourselves clear?" Xander's eyes were just as hard but somehow, the short girl in the ponytail intimidated the vampire more than her larger counterpart, and he just nodded his head in submission. "Glad we could have this chat, Angel," she retorted, her voice becoming overly-sweet again.

"Knock-knock," Xander yelled down in the darkness, then looking back at Buffy, he nodded his head toward Angel, _the coast is clear, no other vampires except the one in their presence_ , the nod said. Then with a mischievous grin he said, "Let's go greet the neighbors, Hun," sounding just like an affectionate husband speaking to his new bride.

Buffy turned toward Xander and smiled, a subtle tinge of pink shined in her cheeks, as she linked her arm in his, "Do you think they'll like the recipe I brought as a house-warming gift?" Her tone made her sound, not unlike the newlywed bride to Xander's husband voice, and again, if asked, she would only say she was playing along with her partner, to present a united front before going into battle. Buffy would deny, she felt a slight shiver creep down her spine, because of his tone-of-voice. "Wish us luck," Buffy asked the vampire, and Angel was silent, so the Slayer just shrugged and threaded her arm through Xander's, _just for show_ , she told herself, and they walked into darkness together?

Behind them, almost imperceptibly Buffy's Slayer hearing caught something from Angel, "Good luck!"

 **Welcoming Party**

 _ **Damned Halls: Tunnels under Sunnydale: three minutes later**_

Once inside, the partners came to a landing, to their right, a narrow staircase jutting from the wall led to another staircase, 90-degrees left tangent from the first flight, and pushing against the outer wall. Buffy was not naïve, she knew this entrance was meant for one specific purpose, to keep intruders out, and the staircase was meant to be a choke-point, if would-be marauders came in droves. Too bad for the fang-faces, it was only two foolish, slightly enhanced humans. She led the way down to the floor below, a small window port let the last rays of the morning sun filter into the basement, and as they reached the bottom-floor they paused to take stock. A giant rat scurried over Buffy's foot, and while it surprised her, she did not otherwise acknowledge the vermin. _Hard to believe only a year or two ago, I would've been shrieking like an infant if I saw even a mouse,_ she mused _, after vamps, rats are nothing to me, except as a sign of where not to look for vampires._

"We're definitely on the right track," she said indicating the rodent, "rats, and other natural animals like that one, won't go near them."

Xander looked where she pointed, as more rats move through this area, he understood, but he was a little scared and when he was scared he liked to make jokes, "what, rats don't like sharing the cesspool?"

Buffy smiled understanding what Xander was trying to do, and played along, "I used to share your aversion to rodents," she informed him as they moved through the tunnels, "but compared to bloodsuckers, rats are where its at, and their just trying to not become a juice-box for vamps."

"You mean vampires drink rats, and other animals too," Xander wondered, as he followed the girl deeper into the catacombs?

Buffy answered, "oh, yeah, they can drink any natural creature with blood, mostly mammals and birds," she educated him. "They only get sustenance from people though, other animals just sustain them until they get better fare," she continued, "and they can't turn other animals, either because animals don't have souls to work with, or the demon that creates vampires prefers human souls to other animals. Merrick said that was one of the livelier debates among the Watcher's Council," Buffy told him sadly, then returning upbeat, "either way, thank God animals can't be turned. Lothos, the vampire-lord I destroyed in LA, liked to snack on cats and kittens," she told him, "can you imagine a vamp-cat, cats are quick and nimble on their own, they don't need the powers of a vampire to go with it?"

Xander's imagination took flight at the idea of other creatures, indigenous to Earth having the powers of a vampire. He shook in discomfort, "forget kittens and cats, imagine lions, tigers, and bears getting vamped," _for all our technology human-beings really are the weakest creatures on the planet, without our tech, we fall prey to even the smallest of creatures_ , Xander thought.

Buffy looked back at the Immortal boy and grinned, "Oh my," she added with cheek!

It was dark, and he could not see Buffy's face, but he heard the smile in her voice, "back off Dorothy, we ain't anywhere near the rainbow now," he quipped at her.

They came to a narrow passageway, not as dark, due to several lights that illuminated the corridor, part of the town's way of keeping her employees safe, when Buffy began relating a story, "well, there's one aspect of slayage, you and I have in common; beheading."

"You've done some beheading in your time," Xander asked?

"They're still as dusted when I do it, as when you, Xander," Buffy replied, in her that is so obvious Valley-girl mouth, "but with me they're just dust, I don't get anything from them, except one less vampire to worry about." Buffy decided to tell him about a time at her old school, "there was this time I was pinned-down by this guy that played left tackle for Varsity," she began, not forgetting at all who her audience was, _I'm the senior partner, its tradition for the veterans to have some fun at the rookie's expense_ , "well, at least he used to, before he was a vampire, anyway he had this really, really thick neck, and all I had on me was a little, little, exacto-knife…" They came to a turn along the tunnel, and Buffy chanced a look back at her partner, she caught a good look at his face, and could tell her story was having an effect on Xander, and smirking at him, _he may be Immortal but he's still a teenage boy_ , asked, though it was more like a statement, him, "You're not loving this story, are you?"

Xander screwed up his pride, and returning her smirk with a too bright grin, "No actually, I find it oddly comforting," he said while meeting her eyes. He walked a little ahead and her smirk turned into a bright smile, _I saw that attempt at bravado, guys only do that when their trying to impress a girl, and since I'm the only_ living _female here its flattering, and totally working!_

Sunnydale Tunnels: 5 minutes later;

They had moved a little further down the corridor, when Xander's Quickening triggered again, but it was different this time than with the other one in the tomb. The pain was the same for Xander, this one was constant, and more intense, and Angel's came as a stabbing to his brain, this one came as a rolling wave. It was also easier to follow than Angel's demonic energy, and as he cast about him like a blood-hound looking for scent, Xander waved to her, getting Buffy to follow him. Which she did without hesitation, she was beginning to understand a little more how his Quickening worked, it seemed to be able to find energy sources, letting him know the type of creature that was closest to him. _I wonder what he feels when he senses me, if I can sense him, then surely, he can sense me. Amanda knew I was the Slayer before I even spoke to her, if she can sense me, then so can he._

They walked together a little further and as the feeling spiked, Xander brought out a flashlight, switched it on, and on the floor face-down, they found Jesse. As when it happened in the tomb, the moment Xander laid eyes on the source of his trigger, the feeling abated and died; as did all hope for Jesse! Xander, looked up at Buffy to see the pity welling in her eyes. Xander moved his flashlight until they found Jesse's ankle manacled, and attached to a chain leading into the wall, and Xander shook his head then held his finger up to his lips. The message was clear, _Angel was right, they were expecting somebody_ , Buffy and Xander were thinking. They shared a look of fierce determination, it was like they have been partners for a while, not just a day and some change, _the bloodsuckers used Jesse to get to_ us _, we'll use Jesse to send_ them _a message: "Don't_ FUCK _with Us!"_

"Jesse," Xander yelled calling on his limited acting ability!

"Oh no," Buffy added.

"JESSE," Xander bellowed, adding a little fear to his voice!

Jesse got to his feet and the first thing they did, was hug each other, "Xander," Jesse breathed in relief.

Buffy's grip on her stake tightened, she was not going to let some fledgling vampire take HER partner away from her. "Jesse, man, are you okay," Xander asked his dead best-friend?

Jesse stepped back with a distraught look on his face. "I am not okay, on an Epic scale," he admitted. Buffy's light pointed at the manacle on Jesse's ankle, "We gotta get outta here," Jesse added.

Xander grinned, "It's okay, Buffy's a superhero."

She leaned down, and with the butt of the flashlight, "hold on," she cautioned under her breath, Buffy broke Jesse's chains.

"Think anyone heard that," Xander asked? As he asked that, shadows began moving down the corridor they came from, from the other directions as well, then they pressed themselves into the wall. He only said that for Jesse, and the other fang-faces' benefit, because as he got within a few feet of Jesse his Quickening flared again, it seemed. He was able to count the number of vamps by the fluctuations in his Quickening, at least that was the conclusion he drew, when he finally saw them.

"They knew you were going to come," Jesse told them, but he was looking at Buffy, his message was clearly directed at her. "They used me as bait," Jesse added, "for you," he said indicating the Vampire Slayer.

"Maybe they did, Jesse," Buffy gave a rueful grin and nodded in acknowledgement, "but I'll bet they didn't anticipate your best friend, coming with me," as she was saying that Xander took a Zippo-lighter from his left breast pocket on his blue-jean jacket. Xander removed two of the Cherry Bombs from the bandolier and lit their fuses, with a hiss they flared to life, _1-1000, 2-1000, 3-_ Xander threw both, one in one direction, then the other, _1000, 4-1000, 5-_ after he threw them he threw himself over Buffy and Jesse, shielding them with his Immortal body, _1000._ **"BOOM, BOOM,"** the explosion was followed by several screams and hisses! The expression on Jesse's face was priceless, and Xander's grin looked evil, he stood up looking around in satisfaction.

Buffy stood up and looked around too, "Wow," the hallway in both directions was not exactly empty, the vamps that had not been dusted, were maimed and on the ground rolling in pain. "What did you put in those Cherry Bombs," she asked looking back at her partner?

Xander just shrugged, "I didn't make them, Aunt Manda did," he admitted, then looking at Jesse he grinned, "come on buddy let's go, Will's been worried sick," then taking the water gun off his back, he motioned to Buffy to do the same. "Buffy, you remember the way back to the surface," he asked, to which she just nodded, "will you take the lead, so we can keep Jesse between us," she only nodded her head again, "I'll bring up the rear, and keep any vamps off our backs?"

Buffy started forward, following the path they took to get here in the first place. Jesse started to follow her closely, until he saw the cross on her back, which caused his steps to falter, before continuing to follow a few steps further behind.

Xander brought up the rear, and this is where his Quickening came in handy, because just like with Angel it crescendoed, the closer he came to a vamp. It seemed to have a doppler-effect like feel, the closer he, and a vampire came to each other. Xander seemed to move in efficient bursts, keeping no more than 10 paces behind Jesse. The first few yards into the kill zone of the Cherry Bombs, one of the less injured vampires rushed them. He had gaping wounds along his face, and he met the business end of a Holy-soaker. Xander aimed and fired (so to speak), and some got into the vampire's mouth and went down his throat, and he exploded into dust.

Buffy moved just as efficiently, if a fang-face stepped out in front of her, they met her Holy-soaker and being the more experienced monster-killer, she made every drop count. She aimed at their eyes, and when they opened their mouths to scream, they got their last drink of water. Buffy and Xander never lost sight of Jesse, they ostensibly did it to keep him safe, and Jesse was none the wiser. He still believed he had them fooled. Finally, they made it to the staircase and Buffy, moved to the foot of the staircase, they seemed to be ahead of the other vampires.

When Xander made it into the area below the staircase, he stopped, and taking an unopened salt container from his Place, he slung the Holy-soaker on his back, and unsheathed one of his Butterfly Swords and cut the top off the salt container. He bent down and spread the salt in front of the area entrance, Xander spread a good amount in an almost perfectly, straight line, once the line was solid he poured the rest onto either side of the line, but mostly on his side.

Once complete he turned to face Jesse, his face was emotionless as he dropped the empty salt container and pulled his other Butterfly Sword and held it in his other-hand. "Jesse-man, I'm sorry," Xander said, and with a flick of his wrist, slashed Jesse across the torso, immediately causing him to hiss and jump back, and from the slash, wafted a stream of smoke. Buffy was poleaxed, at the effect Xander's Swords had on Jesse, while vamps do feel it, when they are stabbed or slashed or punctured, those wounds were to them, what a wasp-sting is to living humans. _He must have treated his Swords with something,_ she surmised.

Jesse turned to face his ex-best-friend, his vamped-out face was angry, "Sorry," he asked, "I feel good, Xander," then smiled beatifically, "I feel strong, I'm connected to everything, I can hear the worms in the Earth. I know what the Master wants," he sounded with resolve, "I'll serve his purpose. That means you die," the thing that used to be known as Jesse grinned. All the time Jesse was talking he moved closer to Xander, and by the time he said, "die," he had come within arm's reach of the Immortal, but even before Xander's reawakening he had shown surprising dexterity in his arm speed.

Xander grinned himself, "I already did, buddy," then like a steel windmill Xander's arms moved. Slash to Jesse's midsection – cut down the center of his torso – chop into his right-shoulder, followed up by the left – Xander moved low, around to his best friend's back and slashed the back of Jesse's knees, dropping him to his knees, as the tendons that held him up were destroyed. Xander was facing Buffy's direction, and she saw the resolve in her partner's eyes, then Xander's arm fell, and to Buffy it sounded like the crash of thunder as Jesse's head left his shoulders.

As Jesse's body crumbled to dust, a silvery flame begins to rise from the vampire and envelops Xander, and to Xander he feels like his whole body has been thrown into an icy-lake. That is not even the half of it, because Jesse's whole life comes flooding into Alexander Lavelle Harris. Xander feels Jesse's birth as if it happened to him, and witnesses every secret Jesse had; from his crush on Willow, that he never told either of them about, because he cherished their friendship too much to try anything; to Jesse's physical abuse by his mother, something his dad knew about, but refused to intervene, instead he buried himself in his newspaper and ignored his wife treating their son like garbage.

Xander remembered when Jesse first met the Master, and they hatched the plan to take out Buffy, "I thought you nothing, but a meal, boy," Xander heard Luc say to Jesse, while gripping the back of his neck, "congratulations, you've been upgraded, to **bait.** " They discussed what they knew about Immortals, it was not much, even the Master in his long life had only ever met a handful of them, and since most never intervened in his plans, he paid them no mind. The vamp-bitch, Darla, was very much intrigued, and later wondered idly, when only Jesse was in the room; what would happen if she sucked the blood of an Immortal?

Jesse did not remember the Embrace, that made him a bloodsucker nor anything afterward, until he awoke as a vampire. He remembered them chaining him to that pipe, and actually knocking him out and did not come to until Xander, himself woke Jesse up. Followed by the retreat to the entrance, and Xander's attack on him, he felt every injury and cut Jesse felt before finally taking his head, and the last thought Jesse had before his Final Death was, "Thank you, my brother."

 **[The Harvest]**

 **Reaping the Chaff from the Gold **

_**Sunnydale High: Library: Just Before the End of 2nd Period**_

" _For they will gather and be gathered… from the vessel pours life…"_ Rupert Giles read aloud, he and Amanda, were gathered in the library attempting to research this Harvest, Luc the Vampire mentioned to Buffy two nights ago. Well, Giles was researching, Amanda was pacing back and forth near the library entrance, her stride denoting her impatience, and worry. Giles was patiently reading, and turning pages were the only sounds in the room, other than Giles's dull monotone, _"…on the night of the crescent moon, and the first part of the solstice it will come…_ of course," he said to himself before adjusting his spectacles in thought, "that's tonight!"

Amanda was not known for her patience, and patience was not only a virtue for thieves and con-artists, it was essential to their craft, but Amanda has never been patient, with anything. She knew that about herself; _probably why, I've never been a very good thief, or con,_ she admitted, to herself at least, _Duncan, who never really was a full-time thief, just a dabbler is much better at it, than I am_ ; today, her impatience was manifest through her pacing. Amanda, of course, was pacing in her worry over her little Alec, she and Giles were awaiting their respective pupils' return from the catacombs of Sunnydale. She looked at the Watcher in disgust, "How can you just sit there reading, while Buffy is walking into danger," Amanda asked in exasperation, "you don't care about her at all, do you," she accused?

Giles jerked up from his book, as if he realized he was not alone in this place, he looked around in his usual tweed, noticing Amanda, dressed in blue-jeans, a black-leather jacket, and a pair of tall, lace-up leather, motorcycle boots. At last noticing the questions the Immortal woman addressed to him, Giles turned back to his reading, "as a Watcher, I cannot afford to become emotionally involved with my Slayer, if I do my position as her Watcher would become compromised, and I could be replaced." Giles turned toward Amanda with a sharp look, and even sharper reply, "that being said, by sitting here as you call it, I place my future entirely in her hands, Xander's too, I have enormous faith in the capabilities of this Slayer, and not a small amount in her new **partner,** " he told her pointedly. Then favoring her with a reassuring smile, "you do not need to worry about young Xander, Amanda," he told her, "Buffy is not an amateur, she has experience and will look after him."

Amanda only nodded, then took a deep breath, held it for a second, before letting it out slowly, "I'm sorry," she offered, to which he just nodded. "I'm just not used to Alec going into danger yet," Amanda admitted, while she made her way to the table Rupert occupied.

" **BRRIIIINNNGG!** "

Giles nodded as the school bell rang, the end of second period, "I understand a little of what you are experiencing, but you really should try to control that. If I am not mistaken, you and young Xander are now competing in the Game," Giles suggested while looking her in the eye, "and God-only-knows, who will be the last of you lot." Then looking in her eyes as she contemplated the Watcher's words, Giles asked her another question, "I have to wonder, Amanda," he began, "but should you and Xander become the last two of your kind, would you fight for the Prize, or would you be content to remain a pair?"

Amanda was not surprised by the question, she has asked herself the same since Alec's rebirth, and to be honest she did not know. _It would have to depend on how close, Alec and I remain, I wonder if Connor and Duncan have asked themselves this question? Anybody who has been in the same room as them, knows that they love each other like brothers, but then, so did Cain and Abel._ Before she could offer a reply, the library door opened, Giles put paid to his outer shell of apathy when he snapped his head toward it, and with a hopeful tenor in his voice, asked, "Buffy?"

Amanda hid a smile when Willow walked in, _so much for emotional detachment,_ Willow was wearing a long-sleeved red tie-dyed blouse, blue-denim overalls, and canvas tennis-shoes, and her hair was down. Willow was holding a set of printouts, and as she approached the pair at the table, answered, "It's just me," Willow spoke in a subdued voice, "I take it, there's no word?"

Amanda shook her head, but Giles hoping to cover his slip, adjusted his glasses and turned to gaze at his book, "Uh, not as yet, no."

"Well, I'm sure they're great," Willow added tentatively, approaching their table.

"Of course they are," Amanda stood up as Willow drew near, and placed a re-assuring hand on the teenager's shoulder, "this isn't Buffy's first rodeo, and you know Xander's got a good head on his shoulders, not to mention the training I began with him when he was five, until just after he turned twelve," then smiling devilishly, "and the surprises he cooked up last night," she told them.

"Surprises," Giles and Willow asked?

"I'll let them tell you _when_ they get here," Amanda informed them.

Giles blinked then turned toward Willow, "Did you find anything of interest, during your computer class?"

"I think, maybe," she answered laying her printouts on their table, "I surfed through more old newspapers, around the time of the big earthquake back in '37," she began, "and for several months before, there were several murders."

"Great," Rupert whispered in excitement!

Amanda smiled at Giles's faux-pas, "really Watcher, I'm surprised, you find the idea of murder so appealing," Willow giggled with the ancient woman.

Giles became flustered at the light ridicule from the women surrounding him, "I – I mean, not 'great', in a good way, you know, uh – go on."

"Well, throats… blood…, sound like what you're looking for," Willow asked looking at them?

"Like an out of tune orchestra," Amanda retorted in agreement.

Giles looked at what Willow gave them, then looking up at Amanda, or through her rather, "It's all coming together," then returning to the papers in front of him, "I rather wish it weren't."

As he said that Amanda felt the presence of another Immortal, she tensed for a second, hand inching toward her Place. She oriented to the door of the library, just as her Ultimate Grandson and his partner entered, "Alec," she called in a high-pitched voice, and exhaled in relief, but recoiled at the look of misery and resolve on his face, not to mention the hard-eyes of the Slayer. Amanda suspected, and her suspicion was justified, when Jesse did not appear next to his best friend, what happened.

The Hunters walked in, just as the bell rang for third-period, Xander had removed the bandolier and secreted his Butterfly Swords in his Place. Consequently, all he had on, were the clothes he wore to the Summers' residence, and the arm-guards. Buffy kept everything she wore into the tomb, including the jacket. Willow, sitting at the table turned to look at them as they entered, and though she saw the look on her best-friend's face, but not her other best-friend, still had to ask, "Did you find Jesse?"

"Yeah," Xander answered quietly, as he took off to the other side of the library?

"He was dead," she asked?

"Worse," Buffy answered shortly, then looked at Xander as he went to be alone, then looked at Willow and sat down in the seat next to the other girl, "I'm sorry, Willow, we were too late the vampires already turned him by the time we got there," then turning her head to face her Watcher, "they were waiting for me, they set a trap, for me. It was a good thing Xander was with me, or you wouldn't have seen me again," Buffy smiled sadly.

Willow's voice was filled with sorrow, "at least, the two of you are okay."

Xander kicked the side of a recycle bin, making everybody jump and look in that direction, he turned to them and shrugged out an apology, "I don't, like, Vampires," he said quietly, "I'm gonna take a stand and say, they're not good!" Amanda walked over to her kin, and laid a hand on him, while he tensed at first with the contact, he suddenly hugged her, burying his head in her shoulder. They looked away as his shoulders began to tremble, and they heard sniffling.

"Yeah," Buffy conceded, "physically we're fine, emotionally…" she trailed off looking at her partner.

"Buffy, tell us what happened," her Watcher ordered, and for once Buffy complied without question.

"We got to the graveyard at 7:30 am," Buffy began, "Xander showed me a few innovations to the Slayer arsenal," seeing Giles about to ask what, she hastily added "more on that later," to which he only nodded and gestured for her to go on, "we had a small fist-fight, so I could see if he was up to snuff. Then making our way to the mausoleum, Xander felt a vampire inside, we went in, knowing it could be an ambush. It wasn't an ambush, but it was another Vampire, who was not affiliated with the ones below. Xander clobbered him and was about to dust him, but I recognized the vampire, who's name is Angel by the way, he was outside the Bronze two nights ago. He gave me this cross in a velvet box," Buffy said pointing to the necklace, which cause Giles to gasp, "don't start Watcher, anyway we chatted, and he gave us some valuable intel, so I gave him a pass for now."

"Buffy," Giles chided!

"Strategic decision, Giles," she rebutted, "he told us more about that Harvest-thing, Luc mentioned the other night. He said, he was afraid of the Harvest, if that tells you anything about Angel's character, and how bad that Harvest could get. We also let Angel think Xander is a Watcher-in-training." That caused Giles to raise his eyebrows, but Buffy went on with the story, "after the meeting with Angel, we went below and followed the tunnels until we found Jesse," she paused, "his meat anyway. Xander sensed Jesse before we saw him of course, and that's how we knew he was now our enemy." Buffy smiled fondly, as she looked over to the now still Xander, continuing to hug his Aunt Manda, she knew he was listening, as she gave the others a recap of the tunnels, "Xander and I, felt like we had been partners for years, not just a couple of days, we seemed to be able to tell what the other was thinking by just a look, and we hatched a plan to take their bait, and turn it into a challenge," she told them.

Everybody was looking at Buffy as she told them the rest, "We didn't let on to Jesse we knew he was a Vampire, we let him think we were still ignorant of his condition. We removed the shackle chaining him to a standpipe, when out of nowhere we were surrounded by fang-faces, and that is when one of Xander's innovations came in handy," she looked at her audience, even Xander was mesmerized by the story and he lived it. "Cherry Bombs," but as Giles opened his mouth to speak, she hurriedly added, "Cherry Bombs with garlic powder and rock-salt packed around the explosive," Buffy said, and Giles's mouth was hung open, "whatever the case, these Cherry Bombs, were more powerful than any other I've heard about, and cleared the passage of nearly all vampires when they went off, and as a bonus, no collateral damage to Sunnydale infrastructure."

"After the initial assault by the vampires, and the detonation by the Cherry Bombs," Buffy continued, "we employed another of Xander's ideas, super-soakers filled with Holy-water. I've taken to calling them Holy-soakers, and by-God are they effective," Buffy told them breathlessly, turning to her Watcher, "you need to send that one up the line to your Council, Giles, any future Slayers need to know about them as weapons. Hell, Watchers themselves can use them to back up their Slayers," Buffy ordered Giles, who only nodded, "a shot of Holy-water to the eyes of any bloodsucker will blind them, and when they open their mouth to scream in pain, another shot down their gullets will dust them. Anyway, we made it to the entrance of the tunnels, when Xander used a large salt container, to draw a line on the last tunnel entrance, and with me standing guard on the stairs leading up, we trapped Jesse, between the two of us." At this part, Buffy's voice became sad, "this is where Xander, took his first head, Jesse's," Buffy told them, to their gasps of horror, "he took his best-friend's head."

Amanda brought him back into a hug, and kissed his cheek in a motherly fashion, Willow stood up and walked until she was also hugging Xander, from behind. Giles's look of horror turned to fierce admiration, as his respect for the young Immortal rose quite a bit, " **BRRIIIINNNGG** ," the school bell brought them out of their emotional support session. "Right, Buffy, Xander," Giles announced, "I have notices for you to take to the administration office, it'll excuse your absence from your second period classes," the librarian informed them, "I wrote you were helping me with some historical research, which is as close to the truth as I could get, without betraying the truth." Giles handed them referrals to take to the office, "go on, and meet back here for luncheon to discuss what Willow and I found out about the Harvest," they nodded and headed their own way.

Xander handed Amanda keys to his Rocket, "she's in the parking lot of the Allsups, on the other side of the street from the school," he hugged her one more time, "take care of my baby."

 _ **Sunnydale High: Library: Over Lunch**_

They took their lunch in the library, somehow, they did not feel like socializing with the other students. May have something to do with the fact, they had more important things to worry about at the moment, than their social-standing among their teenaged peers. At this time Amanda was not at school, it would look too suspicious if all she did was hang around school all day for no reason, thus she went to take care of some business. They were finishing their meals, when Buffy decided to get to the point without preamble. "So, Giles…" she began with a sigh, issuing a challenge, "got anything that can make this day any worse?"

Rupert stood up, and approached a dry erase board he'd been preparing since the early conference, and with his own sigh, answered her challenge handily, "How about the end of the World?"

All their eyes widened, at that, but Buffy in a dry humorless tone retorted, "knew I could count on you."

"This is what we know," he started, "some 60 years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore," he explained, "not just to feed."

"He came 'cause this town's a mystical whoosit," Buffy guessed.

"Yes," Giles conceded. "The Spanish, who first settled here, called it, "Boca del Infierno…"

Giles mentioned, before Xander broke in, voice filled with bitterness over his friend's death, "Let me guess," pointing to the whiteboard, "Hellmouth, right?"

Giles only nodded, "a sort of portal, between this reality and the next. This vampire hoped to open it," Giles finished.

"Bring the demons back," Buffy guessed again.

"End of the World," Xander stated with resentment.

Now Willow added her information, "but he blew it! Well, more like there was and earthquake that swallowed half the town, and him with it," she explained.

"You see, opening dimensional portals, is a tricky business," put in Giles, "odds are, he got himself stuck, rather like a… a cork in a bottle."

Xander had been listening to the details about their adversary, "and this Harvest thing is to get him out," it was not really a question? _If that's the case, why would Angel, a vampire, be working against this Master guy,_ Xander wondered, _he should stand to gain, just as much as any other vampire? What could he be afraid of, and what is so valuable to Angel, what could he lose, that would outweigh what other vampires could stand to gain?_

Giles nodded once to affirm Xander's statement, then continued, "it comes once in a century, on this night. A master can draw power from one of his minions," he taught them, "while it feeds, enough power to break free and finally, open the portal." Giles stood up and approached the board, took up a marker, and began to draw a character, "the minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol," he drew a three-pointed star.

"So," Buffy stood up and approached the board, "Xander and I, dust any vampire sporting that symbol, and no Harvest."

"To put it simply, yes," Giles agreed.

Buffy looked at him with emphasis, "any idea where this little get together's being held?"

"There are a number of possibilities," which was Giles speech for, _I haven't the foggiest._

"They're going to the Bronze," Xander said in frustration, causing Buffy and Giles to whip their heads around to look at him.

"Are you sure," Willow asked?

"It's so obvious isn't it, all those tasty young morsels all over the place," Xander justified? "Anyway, that's the information I got from Jesse's limited exposure to them, trust me," he said looking away, "it's why they were at the Bronze in the first place. They were scoping it out, to see if it would serve their purpose," he concluded.

" **BRIIINNNGGG,** "and the bell signaled the end of lunch!

Laying down his markers Giles began issuing instructions, "We should get a jump on things right after school," Giles ordered to no one's issue, "before the sun goes down."

"Amanda's bringing my baby back today after school," Xander informed them, "we can reload the soakers, and swing by San Miguel Catholic Church, for blessings on the water."

Buffy nodded, "I have to make a stop on the way," she informed her partner.

"What for," her Watcher asked?

"Supplies," she answered.

 **Quid Pro Quo **

_**Summers Residence: After School**_

Xander pulled up right outside Buffy's house and shut his Rocket down. They got off and walked into the house, she told him to have a seat while she ran upstairs. Buffy was not out of sight for but a moment, when Joyce came into the living room from the kitchen. A smile grew on her lips when she saw Xander, "good afternoon, Xander," then looking around, "where is Buffy, she should be down here attending to her guest?"

"Oh," said Xander, "she went up to her room to change, we're going right back out, we weren't going to be long?"

"Really," Joyce asked, "I need to ask you, where you are going?"

"We're headed to the Bronze," Xander answered.

Joyce's eyes narrowed, "I need to speak with my daughter," she told him, before heading for the stairs.

"Joyce," when she stopped to look at him, he continued, "may I please, use the phone, its local, I'm just going to call home and let them know what's happening?"

"Sure, Xander," she told him, "go right ahead," before continuing up the stairs, to his thanks.

 _ **Buffy's Room**_

Buffy entered her room and changed her blouse, to a cream-white long-sleeved pull-over. Once changed, she went to her bed, and laid Xander's jacket down on it, tightened her pony-tail before heading to her closet to get to her trunk. She had the closet door open, which blocked her view of the door, "Buffy," came her mother's voice.

Buffy hurriedly closed her closet door which brought Joyce into view, and in her eyes, disappointment struck Buffy like a blowtorch, "Mom?"

"You're going out again," Joyce asked rhetorically?

"I have to," Buffy said walking over to get Xander's jacket.

Buffy was putting it on, when her mother asked with dread, "It's happening again isn't it?"

"Mom, I promise it is not gonna be like before," Buffy insisted, then with emphasis added, "but, I have to go!"

"No," Joyce said.

"Mom," Buffy whined in disbelief!

Turning her face away, so she would not look at her daughter, "The tapes all say, I should get used to saying it," still unable to look at her daughter! Joyce continues in a patronizing tone, "I know, what you're thinking, if you don't go out, it'll be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl…" she yelped, when she felt her daughter grip her by her armpits and lift Joyce to the length of Buffy's arms. She opened her eyes, and looked down, into the unyielding eyes of her daughter.

"What you said about the end of the world, mother," Buffy said calmly, like she was not holding a 135 pound-woman, as easily as this same woman, once lifted the girl holding her up, when this same girl was a toddler, "just so happens to be true." Buffy turned back toward her bed, and was almost to it when Buffy spoke again, "now, mom, I am going to place you back on your feet, and I want you to sit down, while I explain some things, understand?" Upon Joyce's nod, her daughter gently lowered her mom back to her feet, and she fell, more than sat, down on the bed, and just as Joyce was seated, a commotion was heard at her door, and Xander burst into Buffy Summers' bedroom.

"Buffy," he exclaimed, "is everything alright," in his hand Xander brandished his Butterfly Swords!?

"I wouldn't say everything," Buffy answered her partner, not looking away from her mother, she noticed how Joyce seemed to take in her friend, wielding the two huge knives with less surprise, than having her 16-year-old daughter lift her like a mother lifting her baby. "You can stay, Xander," she said to him, then looking over at her bedside clock, "we've got a little time before the sun goes down, I had to let my mom in on my secret," then turning to look at her friend, "and from the look she gave you when you entered, makes me believe she knows something about you."

"Buffy, what is going on," Joyce asked finally finding her voice?

"Cliff's Notes version: Vampires, Demons, and Monsters exist, they roam the length and breadth of the Earth, doing demonic things," Buffy informed her, "this town, Sunnydale is built over a Hellmouth, a literal portal to Hell, tonight's the Harvest, where a master vampire, or vampire lord, is going to be set loose upon the world and mankind will cease to exist. I am a Slayer, I have been one for over two years, that business at my old school was because a vampire lord named Lothos attacked my school, causing the death of several students." Buffy had watched her mom's face as she explained everything, looking for disbelief to cloud her mother's eyes, what shocked Buffy the most, there was none. No disbelief, or derision, or thinking Buffy was crazy, there was nothing but calculated acceptance, mixed with abject fear.

"Buffy, what's a Slayer," Joyce asked in a whisper?

Knowing explanations could wait, Buffy answered her mom, "The full title is Vampire Slayer, and that's one girl in all the world, with the strength, speed, durability, and know how to fight the three classes of fiend I mentioned above." Buffy paused to let her mother take it all in, Xander was quiet the whole time, sensing this was more mother-daughter time than anything, he would wait.

"Can you quit being a Slayer," her mother asked?

"Only when I die," Buffy answered, and Joyce flinched, "there have been Slayers before, going back to prehistory, but one thing is clear, whenever one Slayer falls another is Called, and when she is, she will take up my burden." Joyce's acceptance was unnerving Buffy, the only distress she had seen in her mother, came when Buffy emphasized how she has to die to be released from being a Slayer. "Okay, the cool mom routine is getting old, how can you accept this news so easily," Buffy demanded, "when I found out about the existence of vampires I screamed for hours?"

Joyce just shook her head, "Buffy, if I can accept the existence of Immortal beings," she said pointing at Xander, "then vampires and other monsters, aren't that hard to swallow!"

The Slayer and Immortal's face was agape, but it was Xander who spoke first, "how do you know about me? How long have you known," he asked gruffly?

Joyce smiled, "I'm a Watcher, Xander," she told him, "more importantly I am your Watcher, Xander, and Amanda's as long as she's here in Sunnydale. I've known since 1985, about Immortals, The Game, the Rules," the teens looked like poleaxed oxen, as Joyce spilled her guts, "I watched two men engaged in a duel, and the way they moved was beyond human, their actions were almost a blur, I didn't witness the end of the duel, but I heard the results while at Watcher Academy."

They continued to just stare at her for a little bit, "I know why Buffy needs a Watcher, which train her to be a Slayer," Xander told her, "but what do Immortals need with Watchers?"

"Watchers observe and record Immortal activity, we never interfere with them," Joyce began, "my job is to record your life including the heads you take while you are here. Now that I have answered your questions, I want you to answer mine," Joyce ordered softly, and when Xander nodded to ask her question she did, "what are your intentions toward my daughter, you're more than just a new acquaintance if you are here at the same time?"

"Xander's my partner, mom," Buffy answered for Xander, "he was actually murdered by a vampire two nights ago and awakened right in front of me." She grinned in embarrassment, "I was so startled by that, I sat down on my ass, hard," then even chuckled as she remembered the rest of her embarrassing moment, "I thought he was a vampire, and attempted to use a cross on him. Anyway, you said you knew about the Game," she asked her mom, "what do you know about the Hunt?"

"It was mentioned at the Academy, but details were never given to us," Joyce answered, "are you going to tell me about it?"

Xander nodded and began, "according to Aunt Manda, for all Immortals there is the Game, there is no getting around that," he told her with resigned acceptance, "but for some of us who do not want to let the Game define us, there is the Hunt. We call ourselves Hunter Immortals, and view the Game, a necessity, and a distraction, if an Immortal is busy worrying about his or her head, they can't use their idle-hands to take over and subjugate the rest of humanity. Now the Hunt, is like the Game, only instead of killing Immortals and taking their Quickening, we Hunt vampires, demons, and other monsters and if we take their heads we acquire their power and knowledge too, just like with Immortals."

Buffy looked at the clock and saw that it was time to wrap up everything here, "Mom," she said getting Joyce's attention, "we have to leave soon," which startled her mother, "what I told you earlier is true, tonight we're going out to stop the end of the world. The Harvest is coming tonight, we have to go stop it, if we don't then a very old, which in bloodsuckers translates to powerful, vampire will be free of his imprisonment, and with his release the Hellmouth will be opened, and the demons will return to Earth."

"Why do you have to do it, Buffy," Joyce asked, as her eyes filled with tears, "why can't the Immortals," she said pointing to Xander, "they have superior numbers, and they're at least old enough to have had a life, several lives even?"

Xander sighed, "believe me, I've asked that question myself, and according to Amanda, who detests Immortal Gamers (Immortals who only play the Game, never Hunt), by the way, and unfortunately she told me that the Game is a constant, the Hunt is a choice, and a vast majority refuse to do it," he answered in shame. "She's lived for over eleven-hundred-years and has only ever met a handful of Hunter Immortals, and she counts three of them as her good friends."

"Believe me also," Buffy added, "if I could retire and leave it to someone else I would. I tried to do it too, when we first moved here I wanted nothing more to do with Slaying. I saw the results of what it did last time; the loss of my first Watcher, Merrick, landing me in juvie, Dad leaving," Buffy's voice was downcast, then she looked in her mother's eyes with fiery determination in her own, "it wasn't until they tried to take two of my new friends, and only succeeded in taking Xander's best friend, and turning him…"

"… which was the first head I took, this morning," Xander put in with angry eyes.

Buffy looked at Xander and smiled in sympathy and reassurance, while Joyce's mouth fell open, "I'll explain what happens when a vampire is turned another time, mom," daughter told mother, "but back to the original point, for me to turn a blind eye to this would be equal, if not worse than standing by and watching while someone kills a child in front of you. Plus," Buffy said standing next to Xander and taking his hand, "now I have a partner to watch my back, he's already proven to be invaluable, and he can detect Vampires, and other Supernatural threats so, the likelihood of ambush has been greatly reduced."

Joyce closed her eyes and thought about her daughters words. Buffy was right, and that attitude was what she had always strived to instill within her daughter, all of her life. If you have the power to prevent loss, but refused to do so, that would be comparable to causing the loss yourself. Joyce would be guilty of doing the same, if she stood in her daughter's way to do what Buffy knows in her heart, is the right thing to do. Joyce took a slow, cleansing breath, and let it out, then opened her eyes and looked directly at the baby-Immortal, "that vow you made to me this morning, that's now your life's creed," Buffy's mother, Xander's Watcher, told him in a snarl, "if anything happens to my daughter while you're there to prevent it, I'll kill you, and believe me, I know how to kill Immortals. Do we understand each other, Alexander Lavelle Harris," she screamed her question?!

Xander looked at Joyce, then nodded, "I give you my oath, that as long as I draw breath, your daughter will always return to you."

 **The Harvest **

_**In the Bronze: After Dark**_

The music in the Bronze tonight was quite a bit better than the other night. On an upper-level, Cordelia Chase was holding court, yet again, running off at the mouth like she was worth listening to, and she had pretensions to wisdom. Acting like, she had anything resembling complex thought traveling through her head. At a nearby table sitting with Willow, Buffy Summers listened to Queen Cordelia and was amazed that not quite two years ago, she would have been right there with those ditzy girls. She would have pretended to give a shit what the Cordys of her high school thought. Buffy did not delude herself into thinking she would have been in Cordelia's position, because she saw herself for whom she was back then, a ewe, and not the lead ewe either.

Cordelia and her entourage got up, and hurried to the dancefloor, while Buffy and Willow hung back. Down on the dancefloor, Xander stood against the wall and watched Cordelia make her way to the dancefloor. She began grooving to the beat, dancing, and smiling and she moved to the music. Xander watched her dance, and memories of her rejections of Jesse flashed through his mind, Xander realized the reason Jesse pursued Cordelia, besides being smoking-hot, was because Jesse saw Cordelia Chase the same way, Hillary saw Everest before he made it to the summit. _She was there,_ and to conquer her even just to get her to dance, would have been enough to boost his confidence. While Xander would never view a woman like that, he had to admit there was an appeal to that line of thinking, so Xander moved away from his wall toward the dancefloor he thought, _just this once, for Jesse_ , and me.

Cordelia saw movement out of the corner of her eye, glancing in that direction, she spotted Xander moving around the edge of the crowd. She immediately turned away, with her cute little nose in the air, and continued to dance. When the music ended, Cordelia huffed in annoyance before going back to her seat, but Xander was suddenly there in front of her, she almost walked into him. "Oh," she exclaimed in surprise! "What do you want," she asked in her most conceded, arrogant voice?

Then, without so much as a by-your-leave grabbed her hand, "Dance with me," he demanded.

"Hey," she demanded in her affronted voice, but she was not removing her hand from his, nor did she do more than object, when he turned her around and dragged her back toward the dancefloor! "Hello," she protested, "caveman-brain, what are you doing?!"

They reached the floor, when he looked her in the eyes and told her to, "shut up," and for the first-time ever, Cordelia Chase did as she was told, by somebody other than her father and mother. _This is for you, Jesse_ , Xander prayed hoping his friend's soul now rested in piece.

"Well…" she said submissively, "just one dance," she would submit, but on her own terms. So, they began dancing to the slow rhythm of the music, and above them, Buffy had watched the whole scene. She could not hear what was being said, but she could get the gist. Buffy's hand reflexively tightened into a fist, and her anger spiked, then Willow, who had also seen her best friend on the dancefloor, placed her hand on Buffy's fist.

"I wouldn't read too much into what you're seeing," Willow informed her new and first girl-friend, "Xander's never been interested in Cordelia." Willow was reticent about a lot of things, but when it came to the boy she had all but named, there was not much she did not understand. When Buffy turned back to the hand cupping her own, and looked at the girl in whom it belonged, "that dance is for Jesse," when Buffy looked confused Willow went on, "let me explain…"

 _ **Outside the Bronze**_

As the sun went down in Sunnydale, Hell came out to prey. The demons of Hell, which wore meat to mask their malevolence, emerged from the grave, but these denizens were not hungry, they were thirsty. As darkness fell, the bar called the Bronze rose to peak capacity, and as was usual a line stretched around the corner. The bouncer, an American man of African descent, name John James Oliver, 'JJ' to his friends, 'JoJo' to his woman, was wearing a tank-top, blue-jeans, and hi-tops. He was checking IDs, and as he let the last patron enter the establishment, a horde of six vampires appeared out of the night. In the lead, but not in-charge was a blonde-female vampire, her name was Darla, at least that's the name she gave herself when the Master, turned her while in the guise of a priest. When he appeared to her, she openly scoffed that if the Devil wanted her soul, then he could have it. " _My soul is well past saving. Let the devil take me, if he'll have me. It doesn't matter. Either way, I die,_ " she told him.

" _You will not die. You will be reborn,_ " he said to her, before consuming her soul.

The group approached the doorman and walked by JJ, but he did his job, "IDs, please." They walked by without pause, when he raised his voice, "Hey, nobody gets inside until I get some sorta…" he trailed off when the Vessel looked him in the face and growled.

"Get inside," Luc ordered, and the group took control of John steering him inside. As the vampires entered, they failed to notice an old beat-up, seventies era VW bus. The van's engine started, followed by the lights, and as the van pulled out of the Bronze parking lot, on both sides a sign read: Archdiocese of San Miguel Parish. The other's took control of the large black man and pushed him inside with them. Luc walked in boldly, he has feared little short of the Master for so long, he no longer knows the meaning of the word unless the Master is present.

They left a vampire just inside the door, while they entered. Several went upstairs to take charge of the lighting, and the power cut down without warning, leaving those not in the know confused and disoriented. Then slowly, an overhead light came up onstage, and a deep voice began, "Ladies and gentlemen," and as all eyes turned in that direction, they spotted a large figure standing center-stage, "there is no cause for alarm," then with something of a joke in his voice, "actually there is… cause for alarm," the lights continued to rise bringing his face into full view and as several screams erupted, the monster onstage grinned showing his fangs, "it just won't, do you any good."

Out on the dancefloor, Cordelia was confused when she said, "I thought there wasn't any band tonight," turning to her partner, to find him staring at the stage with pure hatred on his face. For the first time ever, Cordelia Chase, was afraid of Xander Harris, and she hoped to never, ever be the focus of his ire.

He turned to her and he smiled reassuringly, "Cordy, when you get a chance I want you to get out of here, and if there's a decent human bone in your body, don't leave your friends behind," he ordered, and for the second-time that night, she obeyed him. She turned and ran off to get her friends, and he smiled, _maybe there's hope for you after-all, Chase!_

On-stage, Luc continued to exhort the masses within the Bronze, "This is a glorious night," he said with a happy grin, "it is also the last one, any of you shall ever see." Then, turning to stage-left, "bring me, the first," he ordered. John was brought up onstage by a lackey to Luc, JJ was struggling valiantly to break loose, but such is the way of humans, even the strongest cannot hope to overpower even the newest, weakest vampires.

"What do you guys want, man," JJ asked, "you want money?" When JJ came face-to-face with Luc, such was the courage, and ignorance of the man, that he asked, "Man, what's wrong with your faces," which insulted Luc, causing him to grab JJ by the throat?

"Watch me, people," as he brought JJ up to his mouth. "The fear… it's like an elixir, almost like blood." As Luc brought the family-man up to his fangs, several jets of smoke erupted onstage. This did not surprise Luc, he and the Master had anticipated Her involvement, _surely the Slayer knows we cannot be harmed or distracted with…_ suddenly Luc's entire upper respiratory system, including his no longer used lungs, began to burn, and his weak human-body reacts, as it remembers it's fight-or-flight responses, and sucks in tons of the gas, which in reality is incense, laced with frankincense and myrrh, consecrated by the priests of San Miguel. In his panic, Luc released John James, who stood back then through a punch that Luc, even in his weakened condition, barely felt, and at that JJ ran his ass away.

The smoke filled the area around the stage, and Luc was too distracted by the smoke to rally his crew. Which is what Buffy, her partner, and the rest of them were waiting for, and moving to the exits, Buffy with Amanda moved to the main door, and the sentry. While Xander stayed with Giles and Willow armed with Holy-soakers, moving to the back exit, where three vampires stationed themselves to prevent their prey's escape. Xander stepped forward as they stood against them, "hmm," Xander said, one of them stepped forward with a cocky grin. Then trying to take Xander by surprise, he lunged hoping to use his speed to take out the baby-Immortal, but to Xander the guy was moving at normal speed, and Xander realized he had acquired Jesse's strength and speed as a fledgling vampire. These vampires were only marginally better than Jesse in terms of power, and they have never truly learned how to fight, not like Xander's kung fu training for seven years, under his Aunt Manda.

This brought Xander even with them, and as the vampire attacked, Xander defended with a blocking parry, followed by a back fist to the monster's stomach, causing the vampire to hiss. The hiss came not just from the power of the blow, which was unexpected, but from the new additions to Xander's wardrobe, specifically to the fingerless gloves. They had a cross within a circle , sewn on the back knuckles, and Alpha and Omega symbol, the description of the Lord Himself in the book of Revelations, a holy symbol if there ever was one. When Xander hit the vampire, the power of these symbols scorched his flesh, now, Xander had an edge. While the fang-face was doubled-over, Xander's tiger's palm came up under the vamps chin, and from Xander's pocket came a stake. While the vampire was still reeling from the blows Xander gave him, Xander stabbed up under the vamp's rib cage and turned him to dust.

While that was going on the other vampires moved to flank Xander, but as that happened the smoke reached the ceiling and activated the sprinklers. The vampires did not think much of it at the time, until they felt their meat start to burn, and sizzle. All over the nightclub, growls and hisses of pain emanated from dead throats, Darla seemed to be the worst affected, perhaps her disparagement of the divine as a mortal, maybe marking her down for extra-pain against holy power. She screamed loudly, as the holy water coming from the fire suppression system struck her, and like a mad bull she started to run, to get away from the pain of the water. She literally went through a side of the tin walls of the Bronze, in her rush to escape and was still smoking as she ran out into the night. The other three vampires followed her lead leaving Luc to his Fate.

Luc was going through more torment than he thought possible, because far away in the Master's hideout, the Master was feeling everything his Vessel went through. Such was the double-edged sword that came with having a Vessel, because not only does his feeding fill the Master, so too does the comfort and discomfort of Vessel feed-back to his master. Therefore, when Luc inhaled the consecrating incense, the Master felt it as well, and now with the holy-water deluging Luc's skin, the Master felt it as if he were the one receiving the torture of the divine. Buffy walked up to him, only winners can be merciful in the end, so she mercifully put Luc out of his misery, by turning him to dust. Luc, who two nights ago gave her Xander, her partner, and for that she would be merciful, so she mercifully ended his suffering, but if she had known she was torturing the Master without touching him, she might have prolonged his suffering. As they stood on the stage, surrounding the remains of the vampire Vessel, Luc, they looked around at each other and grinned, then they began to laugh as they realized, they had won the day… er, night.

Then Xander turned to Amanda, and hugged her, which she returned gladly, "thank you Aunt Manda, for letting us use your new club to exterminate some pests."

"It was no problem, Alec," Amanda accepted his thanks, "let's get home, it's a school night."


	3. The Witch

**Slayer and Immortal**

 **The Witch**

 _ **The Horror** _

_Sunnydale High Library_

"This is madness," Rupert Giles lamented aloud, as he pounded his fist in the desk, "what could you have been thinking?" He turned around to face the fiend that seemed to have become the focus of his ire. "You are the Slayer, lives depend upon you," he turned away and began pacing back and forth in the library, "I make allowances for your youth, but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, instead of which you would enslave yourself to this – this cult!"

When he turned his accusatory gaze upon his charge, wearing the raiment of the so-called cult, Buffy looked at him with a wide-eyed deer in the headlights look. Then turning to gaze down at herself, she wore a plain white, long-sleeved blouse, a pleated, burnt-orange, and white mini skirt that reaches mid-thigh, and white sneakers. Her hair was gathered in a high-ponytail, in her hands were a pair of pom-poms, she looked up not getting what Giles's deal was, "you don't like the color?" It was her uniform for the cheerleader tryouts, in the week since they thwarted the Harvest, Buffy has thrown herself into training with Amanda and Xander, she was anxious to get back to her pre-Sunnydale Slayer fighting shape. For the last seven days, she and the two Immortals practiced fighting every day, and unlike with Giles and Merrick, where she had to hold back, she was able to go all out with her two friends, _and hopefully more someday, with one of them._ She felt that she had been doing good, and when she heard about the cheerleading tryouts being held at Sunnydale High, she jumped at the opportunity to get back something from her life, before Slaying. She thought it would help her blow-off some steam, and even help her with Slaying by increasing her agility, Giles apparently did not see it that way.

"I d…," Giles could not even look at her, as he bit back several scathing remarks, taking a breath, he turned to pick up some books from a table. "Do you," he began, "do you ignore everything I say, as a rule?"

"No," she said sarcastically, "I believe that's your trick," she finished with a smile. "I told you, I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad," she exclaimed, while coming and hopping into his path while striking a pose.

"You have a sacred birthright, Buffy," he said, getting in her face, "you've been chosen to destroy Vampires, not to, wave pom-poms at people, and as the Watcher, I forbid it."

Giles began to turn away, as if that was the end of their discussion, but Buffy grabbed his tie, and jerked him back to face her. "You may be my Watcher, but you are not my father," she growled in his face, "your job is to give me intelligence on any vampire, demon, or monster, I may face! You will not dictate to me how I run my life, understand," she demanded? Giles's eyes widened at her fierce attitude, "I have accepted my role as the Slayer, okay, but I refuse to let it control my life anymore than it must," she began explaining, "I've been training non-stop for the last week, and I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted! I understand my responsibilities now, and I promise, I won't be derelict in my duties as a Slayer, but I want something in my life that isn't connected to the supernatural!"

Buffy relinquished her hold on his tie, while he stepped back in shock. He turned away, began adjusting his tie, "and have you told Amanda and Xander of your plans."

"Of course, I told them everything," Buffy assured him.

"And, what were their responses," Giles asked turning back to face his Slayer, who had just reminded him of the enormous pressure Slayers were often put under?

"Xander was all, 'You in a cheerleader's outfit, awesome,' he was all but drooling over the idea," Buffy giggled, her own face turning red as she imagined Xander's face, when he saw her outfit now.

"And, Amanda…" Giles asked?

"Amanda was better able to articulate her feelings, 'that's fine, but when you're not working with the squad, I'm going to double-down on your training, and I won't go easy on you because your tired from practice, because the monsters won't let you rest when they're trying to kill you,' she said the practice from cheerleading will not only help with my agility, but it'll help me gain stamina for prolonged fights with the forces of evil," Buffy concluded, "she at least seemed to see the benefits of me doing this. You're just so mired by tradition, you seem to think I should just toe the line, and follow the model of Watcher-Slayer, set forth from the Dark Ages."

"What pray tell is so wrong with that," Giles growled?

"None of them lived past the age of 25," Buffy snapped, at his surprised eyes she went on, "I've been delving into the non-physical aspects of Slayer's, Amanda has been teaching me meditation, and other things that will help me hone my Slayer senses. There was a side-effect, it seems Slayers are connected, I was able to go through many of the Slayer lives, and one thing stood out, they all died violently, and none ever saw their twenty-sixth birthday. The ones that did make it to twenty-five, were so burnt out by then that when death finally came, they welcomed it with a smile," Buffy's eyes had a haunted look in them. Then she came back to her senses, and gave him a hard look, "I will do something that is not Slayer related, even if it kills you, even if I have accepted that I could die at the hands of a monster, I intend to do it after living a full life, so that I will not see my death as a relief!"

At that, Giles lowered his eyes in shame, he of course knew of the previous Slayers, even the one which preceded Buffy, the Watcher's Council knew of how they all met their ends, but many on the Council often viewed the Slayer's as little more than canon fodder, not worth anything more than the ink used to record their demise. He was sorry to say, that until he met Buffy, he was of that same mindset, but now that he had an active Slayer with him, he realized that mentality, made them no better than the monsters, they sent young girls out to fight. He looked up to apologize, only to find his Slayer already walking out of the library.

 _ **Cheerleader Tryouts; Self-esteem Killers** _

_Sunnydale High Gymnasium_

In the Sunnydale High school gymnasium, the ladies of said school spread out over the floor. They were practicing their routines, some were practicing flips, others were practicing dance routines. Near the bleachers a dry erase board on an easel read: **Welcome to the 1998 Cheerleading Tryouts || Sign-in & Fill-out your application, **with a caricature of a cheerleader waving at the reader, all in blue-marker.

The gym doors opened, Buffy and her friends walked into the gym, Buffy and Willow were discussing what happened earlier in the library, "Giles didn't approve, did he," Willow asked? She was wearing a white, flower-print blouse, and faded jeans, her hair was swept back out of her face, and parted on the left.

"Totally lost his water," Buffy confirmed, "he started trying to order me not to do it, but I told him what he could do with himself, when it came to my daily life. I set him straight on just how much authority, I'd let him have over me," Buffy informed her friend, "when it wasn't related to supernatural business. We haven't seen a vampire in over a week," Buffy reminded them, "I'd tell him to get a girlfriend if he wasn't so old."

"Well, we're behind you," Willow assured her.

Xander who was only listening with half an ear, gawped at the women in the gym. Since, Amanda returned to town, she began making him dress better for his time in school, today he wore a long-sleeved polo shirt, and faded denim jeans, with a thick belt. The shirt was tucked into his jeans and on his feet, he wore tennis shoes, his hair was still unkempt but many of the ladies in school began to notice him more as he walked down the halls, much to Buffy's private chagrin. "People scoff at things like school-spirit," he noted, and Buffy held a small smile as she turned her attention to her male friend, "but, look at these girls giving their all like this," he concluded with an approving tone. He finished his remarks as they came even with a cheerleader, practicing her front splits, elevated above the ground using two chairs, one foot on each chair, "ooh, stretchy." Buffy glared a little at his ogling, then rolled her eyes in derision, and stomped off, _boys_ , she was thinking, though she would not have minded if he was looking at her like that, in private at least. "Where was I," he said, absently waving his finger at Willow?

"You were pretending that seeing scantily-clad girls in revealing postures, was a spiritual experience," Willow reminded him with a light-hearted rebuke.

"Who said, I was pretending," he retorted to Willow? Then remembering something, as he came up to Buffy, "Oh, hey," he said to her as he fished something out of his pocket, he pulled out a silver friendship bracelet, "here's a little something I got you, to wish you good luck for tryouts," he handed it to her.

"What's this," Buffy asked with a grin, accepting it from Xander, which made her heart flutter at his thoughtfulness?

"What's that," Willow asked with chagrin?

"How sweet, 'Yours Always,'" she read aloud, but she blushed, then he turned it over for her to show her the rest of the engraving, "'Your Eternal Partner,' oh, Xander," Buffy said softly, but emotionally, "that's so sweet," then she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, _it feels good kissing him/… getting a kiss from her_. The bracelet was not much, but Buffy loved it, because it came from him, on the flat of the bracelet was an inscription, which read, _Your Eternal Partner_ , on the side that faced the wrist, and, _Yours Always_ , on the front side.

After school, after homework, and after sparring, Buffy and Xander have gone out on patrol, every night of the week this week, except Saturdays and Sundays. For all the good it did them, Buffy was correct when she mentioned, they had not seen a vampire this whole week, and Xander had not even felt one through his Quickening. It seems all the vampires had gone to ground, when Buffy dusted Luc, and perhaps Xander's display during the Jesse rescue mission could have also gotten around to the local bloodsuckers. Either way, the vampires seemed to be licking their wounds, and staying away from the Slayer and Immortal duo, they did not even seem to see the weird vampire from the tomb, Angel.

When they went on patrol, they wore a uniform of sorts. They wore the same jackets, they wore into the tombs on their first foray into enemy territory: the Templar motorcycle jackets, sans the bandolier, stakes were kept in the interior jacket pocket, and the cherry bombs were kept in the same Place he kept his Butterfly Swords, while both carried the Holy-soakers. They would walk around different areas, and different graveyards during their patrols, but if there were any vampires in those places, they kept their distance. While Buffy and Xander patrolled Sunnydale, with so little activity, it gave them a chance to get to know each other.

Buffy learned about his mom, when Xander was six his mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which rendered her infertile. Which was when Amanda became his primary caretaker and was made legal guardian of Xander, should anything happen to his mother, who went into remission in 1991, after surgery to remove her ovaries, and the Chemotherapy treatments took effect. Xander's father for whatever the reason, left almost as soon as she was diagnosed, for some reason, he did not feel bound to his broken wife as he called her, nor his child, and for some reason never acknowledged Xander as his son.

Buffy told Xander about her previous school, and Merrick, her first Watcher. She told him the story of her first few months as a Slayer, and what she was like before her responsibilities as a Slayer were thrust upon her. She told him about Lothos, and his henchman, who looked a little like the host of an old children's TV show, and the events that took place the night of the freshman dance. She even told him about how her father abandoned, her and Joyce, when Buffy was sent to juvie, which caused some estrangement between mother and daughter. But since Buffy's coming out so to speak, she and Joyce have been working their way toward being friends, it has only been one week, and they know it will take time to get there, but they were willing to do the work, since the gain for such effort was so rewarding.

Buffy placed Xander's bracelet on her wrist with a smile, at that time, Cordelia Chase walked up to stand next to Willow. "Will you look at Amber," she scoffed, as the girl they saw doing the front split, had moved out into the gym floor to continue stretching with a standing front split, "I mean, who does she think she is, a Laker girl?" Cordy was wearing a navy-blue leotard, and halter-top, festooned with stars, similar to what one would find on the American Flag. Despite her words, nothing could disguise the naked envy, which spread all over her face as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Willow looked at Cordy, then Amber, and smirked, "I heard she turned them down," she replied in a deadpan voice.

Finally, it was time to get started, as the music was shut off, a senior cheerleader came out to center court, "Okay, listen up, let's begin with… Amber Groves! If you're not auditioning, move off the floor," she ordered!

Willow turned and saw another girl she knew, standing near them staring at Amber intensely. Willow got her attention, by waving and calling out to her, "Amy!"

Then with a bright smile coming over her face, Amy waved back, "Hi," and walked over to stand with Willow, and her friends.

"I didn't know you wanted to be a cheerleader," Willow asked in confusion? "You lost a lot of weight," Willow added, crudely.

Amy eyed Willow carefully, "had to," she said softly.

Willow turned and introduced Buffy, "Do you know, Buffy?"

Amy and Buffy greeted each other with a cordial smile, and a, "hi." As Amy passed by Xander though, something weird happened, he was feeling slightly warmer. When she passed him to greet Willow, the sensation seemed to move with her, he distinctly felt the warmth on one side of his face, but it seemed to move with Amy and was now on the side she was standing on. He did not know what it meant, but he knew it was a reaction from his Quickening to something about her, but he did not know what about her was causing this reaction. He also knew, not to dismiss it, since once he started doing that, he might begin dismissing it for other things, and that could cost him, his head. Amanda told him to never dismiss anything his Quickening told him, even if he did not know what it meant, it always meant something.

"Oh, how I hate this, let me count the ways," Amy quipped in an annoyed voice, and a roll of her eyes. On the gym floor the music began, and Amber began to dance, showcasing her talent and flexibility in her dance routine. It was apparent to anybody with eyes, that she was the one to beat, if they wanted a spot on the squad, and she set the bar pretty high too. As Buffy watched, she began to realize how much had changed, while she was away from cheerleading, her eyes were getting bigger and wider as she watched Amber strut her stuff on the gym floor. "She trained with Benson," Amy said to her, "he's one of the best coaches money can buy."

Buffy looked at her in astonishment, "they have cheerleading coaches?"

"Oh yeah," Amy confirmed, "don't you have one? I train with my mom," she added, "three hours in the morning, three at night."

"That much quality time with my mom," Buffy explained, "would probably lead to some quality matricide." Which was true, even after their attempts to grow closer, Joyce and Buffy, both understand they can only stand each other in small doses, to build a tolerance, so to speak.

"Oh, I know it's hokey, but she's really great," Amy said, speaking about her mom.

The warm feeling Xander felt from Amy, suddenly intensified, and out on the gym floor Amber began to emit smoke from the sleeves of her blouse. "Hey, she's smoking," Xander yelled, "is that a part of her routine?"

Buffy was mesmerized, "What the Hell?" Amy, Buffy, and Willow were staring intensely at the girl on the gym floor, while Xander turned away to take something from his Place.

"That girl's on fire," Willow exclaimed!

Cordy who had turned away during Amber's performance, retorted, "enough with the hyperbole."

As she said that Amber's hands literally burst into flames, everybody was shocked but Xander and Buffy. Buffy moved back away from her to pull down the school banner, while Xander moved out onto the floor, with a container filled to the top with water in his hand. He grabbed Amber's hand, pulling it down to pour the water on Amber's hands. Just as Buffy reached them with the banner, ready to smother any flames that may spring up from other places on her body. Buffy was looking at Xander as he doused the flames, as if she was trying to figure something out, then she just asked, "How did you know this was going to happen," she asked?

Xander continued to work, as he thought about how to answer with so many people present, finally he said, "how did I know about Angel, before we saw him?"

Buffy was bewildered for a second, before realizing what he meant, "you need to talk to your aunt about this."

"I will, as soon as I see her tonight for sparring," Xander concurred.

 _Sunnydale High Library_

It was the end of the day, Amber had been taken to the hospital, to get treatment for her burns, and of course what happened was all over the school by lunch. It was the end of the school day and the gang was gathered in the library, for their 'Crime Stoppers Club Meeting.' At the moment, they were sitting at tables near the librarian's office. What they had seen, had even weirded out Buffy who said as much, "I've been Slaying Vampires for more than a year now," she informed them in a highly agitated state, all the more pronounced because of her pacing, "and I have seen some pretty cringe-worthy things, but nobody's hands ever got toasted before." She had changed out of her cheerleading outfit into a cream-colored one-piece dress, sheer-white thigh high, stockings, and black boots.

"I imagine not," Giles agreed, as he walked out of his office holding, what else, a book.

Buffy turned to him, "so… this isn't a vampire problem."

"No," he confirmed.

"But it is funky, right," she asked, "you know, not of the norm?"

"Quite," Giles answered her as he turned from perusing his book, "spontaneous human combustion is rare and scientifically unexplainable, but there have been cases for hundreds of years," he lectured, "usually all that's left is a pile of ash."

"That's all that would've been left if it hadn't been for Xander and Buffy," Willow told him, then looking at her best friend asked, "where did you get the water?"

"I carry a couple of extra containers of water for the Holy-soakers within my subspace field," he told her, when they looked at him in confusion, "that's the Place where I keep my blades when I'm in school. All immortals have them, it allows us to walk through modern society without attracting attention," he explained, "it's usually only big enough to house your weapons, but since mine are small compared to other Immortal's weapons, I have more room to keep other things in it." Then went on with explaining the water, "the holy-soakers are a finite resource, we don't want to risk running out in a Hunt, never thought I'd be using it for something like this." Then he asked Giles another question, "so we have no idea what could've caused this?" Giles merely shook his head in the negative, and Xander nodded in sarcasm, "that's a comfort."

Giles just grinned an excited grin, "but that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth, there's a veritable cornucopia of fiends and devils and ghouls to engage." He turned his gaze to see if they were as excited about living on the Hellmouth as he was, only to see them looking at him with derision. "Well pardon me for finding the glass half-full," Giles turned to Xander, "and how was it you knew to bring out your water container?"

"I don't know, but I felt something weird happening with my Quickening," Xander answered him, "and it seemed to be pointing me, toward Amy. I felt a warming sensation whenever she walked by me to speak with Will and Buff, which seemed to intensify just before Amber became the human torch, the hard way."

"Do you know what it could mean," Willow asked, wondering if Amy might be an Immortal coming for her best friend's head?

"No, for all I know it could be an Immortal version of cupid, she is cute," Xander answered with a wry smile, putting his hand over Willow's, before adding, "but I'll be sure to ask Aunt Manda, tonight when we spar.

Buffy stared holes in the back of her friend and partner's head, then rolled her eyes, before turning to her Watcher to ask, "any common denominators in cases of spontaneous combustion?"

"Rage," Rupert answered, "in most cases the person who ignited was terribly angry or upset."

"So, maybe Amber's got this power to make herself ignite on fire," Xander was guessing, "only she couldn't control it and it burned her, just like the Stephen King novel, Firestarter©, only it got away from her."

"I need to get the skinny on Amber, find out if she's had any colorful episodes before," Buffy decided.

"That means hacking into the school database illegally," Willow said, pleased to be useful to their little group, "at last, something I can do."

"Well, I'll ask around about her," Xander added.

"Okay, but just… walk softly," Buffy admonished, "at least until we know a little more." Then looked around them to her Watcher, "I mean, what if Amber isn't the cause of these problems herself?"

"Then we have to determine who… or what did," he admitted, "and, deal with it accordingly."

 _Summers Residence_

Buffy just shut the back door and walked into the kitchen, where Joyce was using a pry bar, in an attempt to break open some wooden shipping containers. The kitchen was filled with them, and every available space had a container on it. Buffy entered the kitchen, Joyce glanced behind her and smiled at her daughter, but returned immediately to her task. "Hey," Buffy greeted her mother.

"Hey," she asked, "how was school, how'd your tryouts go?"

"Well, a girl caught fire in the gym today," she said, but she sounded like it happened all the time, "other than that, it was a reverent joy." Buffy placed her purse on a table next to her mother's and turned to look at the rest of the room, "What's all this?"

Joyce looked at her daughter with raised eyebrows, who smiled back at her, so Joyce decided to play along, and smiled back, "It's for the tribal art display."

"Cool," Buffy replied, "do you need a hand getting them open," Buffy noticed her mom having trouble, even with the crowbar?

Joyce's first thought was to say, 'no, thank you,' but then she remembered who her daughter is, so she turned to Buffy with a smile, "that would save me quite a bit of time, thank you," she said stepping back and handing Buffy her crowbar.

Buffy took the crowbar, inspected it then gave it back to her mother, "No thanks," she said, "I don't need it." Buffy stepped over to the window over the kitchen sink, and drew the curtains, before walking over to the crate her mother had most recently been working on. She grabbed the top of the crate, and with a wrench and a creak, she ripped the top off of it. Buffy leaned the top against the side of the box and turned to watch her mother's thoughtful expression.

Buffy went through the other boxes quickly, as Joyce remembered last week, when Buffy had picked her up like she was a baby. Joyce could not appreciate it, then, because of her own shock, and later she learns of her daughter's fight with monsters, which caused their estrangement. Buffy and Joyce discussed what happened at her old school, how after the shock wore off, everybody who was there, and witnessed everything, turned on her daughter and denied everything that happened, which led to Buffy's expulsion and incarceration. Buffy had saved their lives, but instead of praising her, and thanking her as they should have, they made up the story of her burning down the school. For the first time in her life, Joyce felt hatred toward those people, and fervently wished them a bad life, with no happiness at all. Joyce's own sense of guilt over not believing her own daughter still kept her up at night, it made her question her own fitness as a mother. "So, what happened with the girl who caught on fire," Joyce asked?

Buffy turned to her in surprise, not thinking her mother wanted to know all the gory details, but Buffy shrugged, if her mom wanted to know, she had no problem talking about it. "One of the better candidates for the squad, was performing her solo routine for the judges," Buffy smiled ironically, "and with her performance, she would have gotten on the squad easily. Anyway, while she was dancing her arms started to smoke, and before anybody knew it, her hands burst into flames. Me and Xander reacted quickly enough to extinguish the flames, before they spread all over the rest of her, so at most only her hands and forearms were injured."

"That's nice, it was a good thing you and your partner were there," Joyce commended them.

"Yeah," then knowing her mother's need to know of everything related to Xander, informed her mother of the issue regarding his Quickening, "well Xander said he had a reaction to one of the other girls, Amy." Joyce looked at her daughter and listened, as Buffy elaborated, "he said, he felt a slight warming of his Immortal juice whenever she passed by him, and it seemed to be able to follow her. He also said he felt the heat increase and point toward Amber, right before she caught fire," she added as an aside.

"Did he tell you what it meant," Joyce asked?

"He didn't know, but made a point to tell Amanda, when they got together to spar tonight," she explained, then with a frown added, "he said for all he knew, it could be an Immortal form of cupid, then called Amy 'cute,'" Buffy grumbled, before walking to the fridge to get some juice.

Joyce hid a smile behind her hand as she looked at her daughter's naked jealousy, "that's very interesting," she said, as she stepped over to the first crate, she was working on to open it, and look inside, she reached in and picked up the statue. Joyce got a good look at it, and blushed, "oh dear," she said in embarrassment, before quickly putting it back in the crate and closing the lid, just before her daughter turned her head back in curiosity.

"What," Buffy asked?

"The fertility statue – you don't need to see that," Joyce said quickly, before taking a clipboard and cataloguing the statues.

Buffy walked up to her mother hesitantly, "you know this girl, Amy, and um," Buffy hesitated as Joyce turned to look at her, "she trains with her mom, like, 3-hours a day." Joyce nodded as she listened to her daughter, "sounds like her mom's pretty into it."

Joyce closed her eyes in understanding, then looked at her daughter, "Buffy, I don't know anything about cheerleading, I was never one of them, I was more into fine art," Joyce said. "I was on the yearbook committee, not the cheer squad. I mean you've seen me dance, right," Joyce asked, hoping Buffy would understand not helping her this time?

"I know," Buffy acquiesced, _baby steps, Buffy_ , she admonished herself. "I was just hoping to spend more time with you," Buffy admitted, "and this seemed like a good way to do that."

Joyce reached over and squeezed her daughter's hand, "I know you do, and I do too, but I think if I helped you with this, it would only insure you never made the squad. Besides, it sounds like Amy's mom doesn't have a lot to do," Joyce retorted, "three hours at night sounds like a lot of time to spend on a single activity."

Joyce smiled at her daughter as she left the kitchen. Buffy waited until her mom left then peeked inside the box she was leaning on, and got an eyeful of the 'male' fertility statue, "Jeepers," she whispered, before leaving the kitchen to go get ready for bed, wondering, _does Xander's look like that?_ Out of consideration for tryouts, Xander and Buffy decided on their way home, to skip patrol tonight, though she wanted to know what Amanda said, she would have to wait until tomorrow, after tryouts.

 _The next day_

Early the next morning, the cheerleader hopefuls gathered in the gym as scheduled. They were lined-up in two rows, Cordelia was on the front row, Amy was behind her. Buffy stood in the back row as well, to the left of Amy. They were done stretching and warming up, so the cheer captain called them to order, and began speaking about yesterday's tragedy and what today would bring. "Despite the terrible events of yesterday, we still have to pick new cheerleaders," she spoke with an arrogant voice, and a cocky strut, "if you make the team, you'll find your names posted in the quad, after lunch. Let's begin with group performance," she concluded!

Amy turned to Buffy and whispered, "Why do my hands have to sweat, when I get nervous?"

Buffy tried to reassure her, "don't worry, you'll do great," she said with a nod, and a smile. While Buffy wanted to make the squad as much as anybody else, she was not nearly as worried about it, as some of these other girls. She guessed it had something to do with her Slayer lifestyle, _once you've been in real life or death situations, it's impossible to feel nervous over such trivial things as making cheerleader._

"5–6–7–8," came the voice of the captain!

Together the candidates began a simple cheer, " **Sunnydale, Sunnydale, we never fail! We never fail! Jump and shoot, swish and score! The other team is such a bore!** " They all moved with the beat, then after 'bore,' they did a cartwheel and Buffy was not happy with her performance, but she was not the worst. Because just as she landed her wobbly cartwheel, she heard two shrieks to her right, as Amy wheeled right into Cordy, knocking them both to the floor.

They were not hurt beyond their pride, and Cordelia was on her feet quickly, but she was looking at the judges, and exclaiming, "You saw that right, that wasn't me?" She sounded almost desperate for the judges to know it was not her fault they screwed up the cheer. "You saw that, right," she implored the judges, before turning to give Amy an ugly glare, then back to the judges, "right?" Of course, Cordy did not need to cast accusatory glares at Amy, because the look on her face was a mixture of mortification and for some reason, fear.

The rest of the performances went off, more or less as good as the first. For the rest of tryouts Cordy sat some distance away, casting glares at Amy, who though not looking in her direction seemed to shrink under the hot light of Cordelia's eyes. Buffy sat with Amy, placing herself between Cordy and Amy, as much as possible. Finally, tryouts were over, and Amy rushed off the bleachers and dashed into the locker room, Buffy could here crying as Amy ran away.

Buffy wanted to console her, but she did not know what she could say to help. So, she went to her own locker to change for the rest of her day. She finished getting dressed and started heading out of the locker room, Buffy walked out to find Amy staring wistfully at a trophy case, specifically at a photograph of a pretty, red-headed cheerleader. Amy turned to see Buffy looking through the case with her, Amy smiled, "that's my mom," she pointed proudly.

"Really," Buffy scoffed, but Amy just nodded with pride? "Catherine Madison," she read, "get down with your bad self," Buffy said graciously.

"Her nickname was Catherine the Great," Amy told her with pride in her voice, "she took that team and made them tri-county champions, you know," Amy spoke rapidly, "no one's ever done that before, or since. She and my dad were homecoming king and queen," she told the Slayer happily, then her excitement began to wane as she added, "they got married right after graduation."

Buffy smiled at the thought, "that's kind of romantic."

"Well, he was a big loser," she said as her excitement ended, "never made any money, ran off with miss trailer trash when I was twelve."

"Okay," Buffy amended, "that part's less romantic," then shared a little of her own story, "my folks split up, too."

"Drag, huh," Amy asked, before adding, "he left my mom with nothing, she put herself through cosmetology school, bought me everything I ever wanted," she said with a bright smile, "and never gained a single pound."

Buffy step forward, "she sounds really great, Amy, but," she turned to face Amy, "that doesn't mean that you need to be in lock step, as far as this cheerleading thing goes."

"She was the best," Amy insisted, "and I can't get my body to move like hers. I choked in there so bad," she cried!

"Amy, you did fine," Buffy began to assure her.

But Amy turned her head, then with a smile of gratitude, said, "I'm going to get changed," before turning and walking back into the locker room. Buffy tried to stop her, but it was no use, as Amy just walked back through the door to the locker room, ignoring Buffy's pleas to stop.

Willow came walking through the same door, saying, "Hey Amy," Willow greeted her, but she just ignored her too. Willow turned back to a frustrated Buffy, "is she okay?"

"No," Buffy replied glumly, "she's wigging about her mom, 'the big cheer queen from back when,'" she finished with irony.

Willow just nodded with a knowing grin, "yeah, her mom's kind of –"

"Nazi-like," Buffy finished for her?

" _Heil_ ," Willow confirmed, "if she gains a ounce, she padlocks the fridge and won't eat anything but broth."

Buffy knew what she was talking about, "So mommy dearest is really… Mommy Dearest," she assumed with a sardonic nod, thanking God, her mom, let's her do her own thing.

Willow nodded and raised her eyes in irony, "there's a bitter streak, but Amy's nice. We used to hang in junior high, when her mom went on her broth kick, Amy would come over to my house, and we'd stuff ourselves with brownies."

Buffy chuckled at that, before changing the subject as they started to walk to class, "Hey, any word on Amber?"

Willow shrugged, "Nothing thrilling," she explained, "average student, got detention once for smoking. Regular smoking, with a cigarette, not grass," Willow explained, "all pretty normal?"

"So, we have to wait and see what happens," Buffy nutshelled, then shrugged, "maybe nothing will," she hoped, then she felt a shiver run down her spine which here in school in the middle of the day, could only mean one thing. Her Immortal was coming, and just as she thought that, Xander hurried up to them with an intense expression on his face.

"Hey, Xander," Buffy greeted him cheerfully, her smile always seemed wider and brighter when he was around for some reason. She waved the hand she was wearing the bracelet on to show him she appreciated his gift.

Xander smiled thinly, and after returning Buffy's greeting, spoke to them seriously, "I've got some news about yesterday, but I want to make sure nobody can hear us, so meet in the library today, like normal, okay?"

They looked at him and saw that for once Xander was serious, which means whatever his news was going to be was huge. So, Willow and Buffy, just nodded while Willow said, "okay, Xander, we were going to be there anyway, so whatever you need to tell us, we'll be there."

 _The Quad at Lunch_

Willow and Xander met up after lunch, and she briefed him on her talk with Buffy about Amy, then what she found out about Amber. Xander had also asked around about her, and other than the smoking thing, there was not much about her character that stood out, except the reason for her flexibility was her ten-years of gymnastics training, coupled with ballet. She viewed cheerleading as the extra-curricular credit she needed to get into college. She was just your basic average teenager, with nobody saying anything bad about her, and while the burns were bad, they were not crippling.

After dishing to each other about Amber, Xander began talking about another subject, that happened today. "Did you see Buffy wearing the bracelet I got her," Xander asked excitedly, "almost like we're going out, right?"

Willow just smiled, "Except without the hugging and kissing, and she not knowing about it," she explained to him.

"So, I should just bite the bullet and ask her out shouldn't I," he asked his best friend?

"You won't know until you ask," Willow reminded him?

Xander just grinned, and smacked his own hand with his knuckles, "that's why I love you, Wills," he said in warmth, "you're like my sister, only you're cool and you don't want to kill me, most of the time. You're the one I could always turn to when I need advice about girls."

Willow actually smiled, a pretty smile, "You love me like a sister," she asked, "that's great?"

Xander looked at her making sure she was understanding his double-meaning, "Yeah," he said tentatively, "you know all my embarrassing secrets, with which you can blackmail me, things I don't want to tell any other girl, because then both of you would know, that I'm not perfect."

Willow looked at him, she did understand what he was saying. Xander was telling her how special she was to him, just not in the way she wanted to be special to him. They walked along in silence, as she looked at him, and she could not help the tear or two that leaked from her eye. She dashed them away, as she felt him place a hand on her shoulder, she began to think about a few things, using her near genius level intelligence, _it's not like we could have a future or anything, he's going to be dodging headhunters for the rest of his life. Even if he were to stay with me, and manage to be victorious against those people, I would begin to look older, while he remained the same apparent age. I'd say that our children and grandchildren would be able to keep him company, but the Powers have denied him even that small solace._ Willow reached up to her shoulder and squeezed his hand, before narrowing her eyes and shoving his hand off in a huff, he looked at her with wide eyes, which held a little fear. "Don't think I won't do it either, Alexander Harris," she snapped, "I've got the mustard story ready to go, and I'm not afraid to use it, so you'd better watch yourself, and treat me like a queen, or I'll tell everybody about it. Starting with Buffy," Willow quipped with a grin.

Xander gasped, "you wouldn't," he challenged?

"Try me," Willow growled, but there was a minute upturn along the corner of her mouth, which he caught?

Xander stood his ground, and stared her down, her hard eyes never wavered, then they turned the corner as they heard a crowd and using that as the subtext to avert his eyes, turned to see what the commotion was about. His eyes widened, "Oh, hey, they're posting the list," he stated urgently as he dashed over to join the crowd!

There were shrieks of every kind, from excited exclamations, to screams of despair, already there were girls, running away crying. Buffy and Amy were waiting at the back of the crowd, in front of the bulletin board used for school announcements. Amy was just a basket case, and while Buffy was hiding it well, her own stomach was doing hippity-hops. "I can't take this," Amy quivered.

Buffy was so nervous, she almost dismissed the sudden shiver down her back as nerves, until she saw a hand grab Amy's and felt another on her shoulder, pull them apart, and say, "cover me, ladies," he told them with cheek, "I'm… going in," he barreled through the throng of cheerleader hopefuls. Buffy shared a smirk with Amy, then a roll of her eyes over the boy's antics, though Buffy's heartbeat did pick up, and Amy looked flattered at his gallantry.

Coming out of the crowd of teenage girls, with a smile on her face was Cordelia Chase. She dropped her smile to a neutral expression, as she spoke to Amy, "you're fucking lucky," she said.

Then Amy asked excitedly, "I made it?"

But Cordy smiled a self-satisfied, smug smile, "I did," before walking away.

"Ow," came an exclamation of pain from Xander, "one of those girls hit me really hard, they should test for steroids!" They barely heard what he said as they waited for him to tell them their fate, seeing this he got a happy grin as he spoke, "okay, not only did you make the team, but you, Miss Summers are the first alternate," they were turning to congratulate each other, before they really heard what he was saying, and Amy's huge grin died on her face as she heard what he said next, "and Amy's number 3." Amy looked at Buffy in resentment before stalking away in a huff, "and what better way to celebrate than with a romantic drive through…" causing Xander to trail off in confusion.

Willow slapped him on the arm, and said in an exasperated voice, "Xander, alternates are the ones who didn't make the team," and his eyes widened at his mistake, but Willow continued explaining, "they only fill in if something happens to the ones who did."

Xander closed his eyes, then turned to Buffy to apologize for his mistake, she could not look at him, but placed her hand on his arm to let him know everything was okay between them. Buffy watched Amy leave out of concern, lightly squeezed Xander's arm, he did not mean to get her hopes up, before dashing them and she was not mad at him. She was more concerned about Amy, than herself at the moment, knowing how important getting on the squad was to her, and how mental her mom was, "Excuse me," she said giving her partner one more light squeeze before walking off to console her new friend.

Xander turned to Willow with a self-deprecating smirk, "For I am Xander, King of the Cretins, may all lesser Cretins, bow before me!" Then turning back to watch as his crush retreated, "this'll make what I have to tell you, Buffy, and Giles today, harder to take in," he said with a sigh. Willow looked at him in bewilderment, before looking after her two female friends, in concern.

Buffy caught up to Amy, who had slowed to a more normal pace, "at least it's over," Buffy offered, "and you know what I think we should do about it? Brownie pig-out, my house, after school," she offered.

Amy took a breath in frustration, before turning to Buffy and asking, "just how many more hours a day can I practice," she asked, "how much more can I do? This would never happen to my mother," she whined, before walking away from Buffy at an even faster pace than before, and Buffy heard one more, "never!"

 _ **Not Charmed At All** _

_Sunnydale High Library: After school_

Xander, Buffy, Giles, and Willow met in the library at the end of the day, the cryptic information Xander has hinted at since this morning, was about to come to light. The latter three sat patiently at one of the tables while the former first, was in front of them with his eyes closed contemplating how to begin. He finally opened his eyes and began to speak. "What I'm about to say came as much of a shock to me as it may be to you," he started, his face the most serious Buffy and Giles had ever seen it, "but as this comes from Aunt Manda, and she has never lied to me about anything this serious. It concerns the incident yesterday in the gym," he explained, "what happened yesterday wasn't random, and it wasn't an accident, it was magic." The expressions on Buffy and Willow's faces were at first shocked, then incredulous, "witchcraft to be more precise," Giles on the other hand became more thoughtful, as he contemplated the young man's words.

"Are you sure, it was a witch," Giles asked, at Xander's nod, and the look of shock on the girl's faces that the Watcher accepted this explanation as plausible, before Giles asked, "how can you be sure?"

"My Quickening," Xander answered shortly, "remember when I told you that it felt warm in the gym?" Buffy and Willow now had big-eyed expressions as it donned on them what he was feeling yesterday, "well like I promised, I asked Aunt Manda about it, and she was very interested. She told me that the Quickening can detect magic users, when they're close and only when they're actively using it," he explained. "She said, there have been Immortals in the past, who tried to use magic, to win the Game but failed because their very own Quickening disrupted the energies from even the most potent magics, power just short of the Powers Themselves."

"Is that even possible," Buffy wondered, then looking at Xander quickly explained, "I trust you Xander, but vampires are one thing, they're at least solid, but magic is a little hard for even me to swallow."

"Magic does indeed exist, Buffy," Giles chimed in, "I have dabbled in a little magic myself, when I was younger. Remember when I told them the true story of the origin of the Earth," he asked at her nod, "in the last part I told them the only thing left of the Old Ones, were certain magics, and vestiges, well none of that was hyperbole, I was telling them the naked truth."

Buffy just nodded and turned back to her partner with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry Xander, I didn't mean to doubt your word, but as I said, vampires and other monsters I can get on board with, but hocus-pocus was where I drew the line."

Xander just nodded his forgiveness, then, "It's okay, Buff," he said, "because you're the very soul of acceptance, compared to how I was, when Amanda first told me about it. She used the same logic on me that Giles did on you. But wait there's more, Immortals can't cast magic ourselves because of the Quickening, and magic can't be cast directly on us, also because of the Quickening. Spells cast over a broad area can affect us, but the Quickening after a while will usually undo its effects on us and bring us out from under a spell's hold over us."

"Why's that," Willow asked, her mind whirling with the possibilities of magic?

"Come on, Will, isn't it obvious," Xander asked matter of factly, "the Game wouldn't be fair if an Immortal was able to use magic to beat his opponent from a distance? Which I'm sure, violates Sacred Rule Number Three, no projectile weapons, which magic would certainly qualify as a projectile." They looked at him in surprise, then he sighed and bowed his head, before looking up and continuing, "look forget what I said about the game in the beginning, it may be a brutal, bloody suck fest, but it's fair for everyone."

"We can detect magic users, and those they've cast spells on," Xander explained a little more of the capabilities of Quickening, "but only while the magic is active. Once it has run it's course, the warming sensation from our Immortal soup goes back to normal," Xander finished.

"You said yesterday, that you were getting the warming sensation, from Amy and Amber, right," Buffy asked severely, to which Xander nodded mutely?

"Amber was the one that was injured though," Willow added, "and Xander's Quickening did sort of point Amy out to him."

"He said it seemed to follow her, as she moved by him," Buffy concurred, "and it stayed pointing in her direction, right up until Amber's hands did their matchstick impression."

It was Xander's turn to speak as he held up his hands in a placating gesture, "Now, before we go all Salem on Amy, we need to make damn sure she's the actual witch, and not the intended victim." Then looking at Buffy and Willow asked, "besides isn't she your friend, shouldn't you be giving her the benefit of the doubt, for all we know it could be Amy's mom practicing witchcraft. I remember her, growing-up, she was practically the Wicked Witch of Sunnydale toward Amy."

The girls looked confused, "I know her mom sound's harsh, but would she really try to hurt another girl, just so her daughter could get on the squad," Willow wondered?

"If memory serves, there was an issue somewhere in the southern part of the United States, about a mother, hiring a hitman to kill a girl so her own daughter could be considered for the cheer squad," Giles inserted himself into the conversation. "Also, as a practitioner of magic myself, I have had a number of spells backfire on me," Giles admitted, "therefore I would not rule out young Amber herself. She could have cast a spell intending to give herself a more spectacular finish but said, or did something out of place, and the resulting backlash was the charred flesh."

"I see your point and you're both right," Buffy conceded with a small smile, "I guess seeing my friends become vampires, made me distrust her a little. Being the Slayer means that sometime in the future, I may have to dust someone who's a friend, or was when they were alive," she told them, "but your right, we'll wait and see what happens."

 _Sunnydale High: The next morning_

The day after the posting of the cheerleader results, was as normal as any other day at Sunnydale High. The ones who made it, were understandably happy and upbeat, while the girls who failed were also understandably subdued and downcast. There was one person walking the halls of Sunnydale and acting strangely, this person should have been rubbing it into the faces of the failures that she had become a cheerleader, while they had not. Instead this person was quiet, and seemed to be acting more like the losers, than the winner she thought she was, it was none other than Sunnydale High's resident Queen B, Cordelia Chase. In fact, her behavior was so bizarre it caught the notice of the self-proclaimed King of Cretins himself, Alexander Lavelle Harris, who today was wearing more relaxed clothing. A midnight-blue and cardinal-red jersey, and green-cargo pants, with his uncle's dog-tags, hanging down to the middle of his chest.

Cordy was walking out of one of her classes, which just so happened to be right next to Willow's locker. He noticed the dead expression on her face, and spoke to her, "Cordelia, you haven't been mean to me all day, is it something I've done," he wondered aloud, but as she approached, he felt his Quickening grow warm, and he reached over to touch his best friend's shoulder. She turned to look at him, "something's happening with Cordy, I don't know what it is, but she's not acting like the bitch we know, and moderately dislike."

They had followed Cordy down the hall, when he felt a shadow flash across his vision, just before Buffy came into the hallway. When she saw them and looked at Xander she became subdued, her inability to make the squad, had been eating at her all last night, even during patrol. Xander and Willow continued to watch Cordy, who went to a locker which was not her own, and as Buffy came up to them looking at the brunette queen b, with a confused expression, "Is that even Cordelia's locker?"

"No, it isn't, and you know what, she hasn't even been mean to me all day," Xander affirmed lightly, though his eyes showed he really was concerned for his female tormentor. "At first, I thought it was my clothes she liked or my new grooming standards, that she appreciated," Xander scoffed, "but that can't be it, Cordy would never be so shallow as to change her attitude toward me simply because I dress better now." He turned to his best friend since kindergarten, "Will, you should probably head to class, you shouldn't be late because of this, me and the Buffster have partnering to do," while what he asked sounded like a question, she knew it was his way of telling her to get to class, and let them take care of it, if something happens?

Willow's eyes glowed with anger, but she nodded and walked off, but not before she uttered one word under her breath, though Buffy's senses caught it, "mustard."

Buffy and Xander turned to watch as Cordy gave up on her locker and staggered off down the hall. They decided to follow Cordy, as Xander continued to inform his partner of everything he noticed about Miss Chase. "Then I saw her expression, which made her normal airheaded façade, seem positively expressive," he explained as they followed her down the hall, "she was doing an impression of a Zombie," he surmised, "and doing quite a good job too, she would make other Zombie's proud enough to eat her brains." Buffy was smiling at how he described his bully, and the way he genuinely showed his concern for Cordelia Chase, the number one anti-Xander person in the school, showed that he really could rise above his own ego for this kind of work, "it wasn't until she walked by me a couple minutes ago, that I understood what was happening, she's been Samantha and Darren'd."

Buffy was confused at first, before she remembered a certain old TV show from the sixties, "are you sure about that," she asked?

"The juice don't lie, Buffy," Xander nodded, "she warmed me up as she walked through these halls. By the way, Buff," Xander began, "how're you feeling this morning," when she looked at him in confusion, he reminded her of what she told him last night, "you told me you were depressed about the results of the tryouts, so I wanted to see if you were feeling better than you were last night?"

Buffy turned away quickly, before turning back to look at him with a half-hearted smile, "I'm still reeling over what happened yesterday, that's for sure, but I _am_ feeling better about it." The partners surreptitiously follow Cordelia out of the school, across the quad, to the school bus parking lot, which was also where the driver's ed class was conducted. When they got to the parking lot and saw where Cordy was heading, and Buffy made a comment to lighten the mood, "don't know which is more evil, the asshole who cast the spell on her, or the system that would be willing to give Cordelia Chase a driver's license?"

They watched as Cordy walked up to the teacher, who seemed to be awaiting her, rather impatiently. He spoke to her as she walked up, but by the set of his jaw, he was not complimenting her. There were two other students in her driver's ed class, who all got in the back seat, it was Chase's turn to drive, apparently. The Slayer and Immortal came around the front end of one of the busses in the parking lot, and watched Cordelia sit in the driver's seat. From right behind Buffy, Xander whispers in her ear, "you know how they say driving under the influence is bad," he states to Buffy who just nods, doing her best to concentrate on their work, "they're usually talking about alcoholic or other mind-altering chemicals, right?"

"Yep, that's what they're talking about," Buffy nodded understanding where her partner was going with this, "but I think getting hexed and getting behind the wheel of a car would qualify as under the influence too."

"So, do I," Xander agreed, "stay back here, okay? I'll just get detention, but with your record, they might suspend you, or worse for cutting class," he said, as he moved out from behind Buffy into the open, he jogged up to the car, but before he got there, the vehicle lurched backward, into some portable signs then barreled forward swerving toward Xander. As it neared him, he felt his adrenaline pumping, and moving on pure instinct leapt over the car. Xander landed on his shoulder and rolled a little to bleed off his momentum. It seemed Jesse's power was still present within Xander, and Xander sent a quiet, "thanks, buddy," to Jesse's soul.

The car with Cordelia driving, continued to go out of control, they heard screams of fright from the vehicle, and Buffy had moved out from behind the bus and after checking to be sure Xander was alright, began running in the direction she predicted the car was headed.

"Brakes," the driver's ed teacher called out in fright, "Brakes, Braaakes," as she rushed toward the fence-line! At this point both Xander and Buffy were running toward the car, hoping to avert disaster, and in the car the now fully awake Cordy applied the brake, but it was too late to stop her momentum and she crashed through the fence, finally coming to a stop in the middle of the street. Other cars on the street narrowly avoided colliding with the driver's ed vehicle. "Everybody out," the teacher ordered, and they all exited the vehicle!

Cordelia slowly exited the vehicle, she seemed to be feeling wobbly, and was still disoriented, she was finally becoming fully cognizant, but soon, another malady began cropping up. Then she heard rumbling behind her and turned and almost came face to face with a delivery truck, she was frozen in place but had the wherewithal to scream, when she was roughly pushed out of the way. She and her unknown rescuer rolled out of the way.

Buffy was the one who rescued her, and as she sat up, Cordy voiced her new ailment, "Oh my God," she exclaimed, "I can't see anything!"

Buffy started reassuring her before she looked at the pretty brunette's face in awe, "Oh, god," Buffy quipped in amazement as she watched the pretty brunette's eyes, turn completely white.

"What's happening," Cordelia asked, fear rife in her voice, then she cried, "I can't see anything?"

 _Sunnydale Library_

"It was most definitely, witchcraft," Giles determined while sitting down to face them, before continuing, "blinding your enemies to disorient and disable is – it's classic." After the incident, Cordelia was also taken to the hospital, but they were all baffled about the cause of her blindness, not to mention the milky-white eyes.

"This just confirms what we thought before," Xander reminded them, before lamenting with, "first vampires, now witches, no wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale."

They all looked in his direction before Giles asked, "why should someone want to harm Cordelia," he wondered out loud?

Willow just smiled and retorted, "maybe, because they've met her," then with wide innocent eyes, she said, "did I say that?"

Then Giles continued, "and setting Amber ablaze?"

"Those two aren't friends," Xander put in, "what do they have in common?"

"They're both cheerleaders," Buffy answered her partner.

"Either someone doesn't like cheerleaders," Xander stated, "or…"

"… likes it too much," Buffy concluded!

"We're back to Amy," Giles stated.

"or her mother," Willow contradicted.

"or both," Xander added as a compromise, "maybe they have mother-daughter bonding over bubbling cauldrons."

"Either way," Buffy agreed to all points, "Amy's desperate to get on that team, and I've got a hunch, she, her mother, or both, would do just about anything to make her mother's dream come true."

"Regardless of what I said yesterday," Giles said in disbelief, "I can't believe this witch, whomever it might be, would be casting horrible and disfiguring spells, so that she can make her or her daughter a cheerleader?"

Buffy smiled in irony, "I think you're underestimating the kind of pressure a parent can lay on you. If you're not a picture-perfect carbon-copy, they tend to wig."

Xander quirked an eyebrow, "I can't imagine your mom putting that much pressure on you, Buffy?"

Buffy smiled warmly at him, and affectionately laid her hand on his and squeezed it, "well she has gotten better at laying off the pressure, once she found out about the Slaying, but she still has her irrational moments. This morning she even tried to get me to think about joining yearbook committee," she told them, "claiming that it's something she enjoyed, I had to remind her that I wasn't her."

The two teens gave her sympathetic expressions, though Giles's expression remained neutral, and in his mind had to ask, _what is so wrong with being an annual board member?_

"Cheerleading was kind of the last time her mother felt important," Willow told Giles.

"You know, we don't have any proof, it's either one of them," Xander added, "so without going all… Spanish Inquisition on them, how do we figure out which one's the witch?"

That raised Willow's eyebrows, "looks like, someone's been doing their history homework," she noted with a grin, "that's two correct references to religious history, centering on witch hysteria in two days. Who are you, and what have you done with my friend, Xander," she asked sarcastically?

Xander grinned, "hey, I'm not just a pretty face." He returned to being serious again, "seriously though what do we do to prove witchcraft?"

Giles nodded his agreement to Xander's stance, with, "we really _should_ make sure she's the witch before arousing her suspicions, she's capable of some very unpleasant things."

"Okay," Buffy said as she gave Xander's hand one last squeeze and stood up to begin pacing, and trying to use logic, "alright, so you're in high school, you are desperate to make the team and please your mom, so you turn to witchcraft." Then looking at Giles asks, "what's the first thing you're gonna do?"

Willow's eyes got big as she made the connection, "check out the books on witchcraft," she concluded while getting up, to go around Xander to sit at the computer near the desk, at which they sat.

Xander was beginning to nod his head in agreement before his eyes got big and he began speaking very fast, "No, no, that would be the last thing you'd do. You don't want to leave a paper trail, forget that." Which may have worked if they had paid any attention to him, but they just ignored him, Buffy may be getting more affectionate with Xander, but she will not coddle him.

"It'll just take a minute," Willow replied absently.

"We don't **have** a minute," Xander stated vehemently, " **cheerleaders** are in danger," he said head pointing to his partner! " **Buffy's** in danger," he said as he stood up and circled around to Buffy's other side, and reminded her, "you were the first alternate, and you're on the team now that Cordelia's out. You could be next," he stated, "we gotta get you to a safe house," he stated, taking Buffy by the arm to pull her along with him, she resisted of course, but Buffy could not help but find his concern for her endearing, until Willow found something.

"Xander," she read?

 _And, so close,_ he thought as he closed his eyes, and knowing he was caught turned to face the music, "Yeah," he said in a light-hearted, yet pensive voice?

Buffy scoffed at him and removed her arm from his grasp, and returned to stand behind Willow, _so he wasn't just trying to protect me, he was covering his own ass. It's actually pretty funny, this must be where he got those historical references_ , Buffy mused to herself, _at least now I know he's like other males when he's about to be caught with his hand in the cookies, run and hide. What I've learned about him doesn't make me pity him, and it would probably insult him if he thought I did._

" _Witches: Historic Roots to Modern Practices,_ " Willow said, "checked out by Alexander Harris." Xander sort of scuttled back around to his chair, in quiet embarrassment, hands in his pockets like a little boy caught being naughty.

" _The Pagan Rites,_ " Buffy read with a huge derisive grin on her face, "checked out by Alexander –"

"Alright-alright," he interrupted trying to downplay his book choices, "It's not what you think."

Buffy turned immediately to look at her Immortal, with an amused smile on her face. "You like to look at the semi-nude engravings," Willow guessed, which was not a guess, because she knew her best friend well, while slowly turning to look at the boy?

"Oh, well, uhh…" he stammered, "maybe it is what you're thinking," he admitted casting glances over at Buffy, who smirked back at him. She was shaking her head, she actually found it refreshing that he had such a typical male outlook on something like this, despite his new condition he is still like every other teenage boy his age.

Giles broke into their little side-bar, by asking them pointedly, "have you all quite finished? We have to find a conclusive test," he reminded them, then holding up his book said, "there may be something in here." Buffy stood up straight and paid attention to her Watcher, as she subconsciously leaned a little closer to Xander than she realized, not touching him but only barely. Rupert read for a bit then perked and nodded, "yes, this should do it: you'll need some of her hair… a little quicksilver, and… aqua fortis," he said happily.

Willow recognize them right away, "well, that's just mercury and nitric acid," she told them, "you can get that in the science lab."

Giles nodded and continued reading, "heat ingredients and apply to witch. If the spell has been cast in the previous 48 hours, the witch's skin turns blue. Oh dear," he said in very slight consternation, and at the raised eyebrows of his Slayer, he answered her unspoken question, "only that you'll need some eye of newt."

Buffy turned to Xander, who was deep in thought and nudged him slightly to get his attention. _He doesn't need my pity, but someone who truly cares for him, maybe if he remembers me in the centuries to come, he will remember that someone truly cared about him._ When he turned to look down at her inquiringly, she smirked, "do you ever get the impression, we're just glorified muscle," she asked?

Xander immediately grinned, "if that were true, then you'd still be the pretty one, and I'd just be the big dumb one."

Buffy blushed at his compliment, but she lightly slapped him on the stomach, in rebuke for putting himself down, "the big part's right, but the dumb part, not a chance. Just what were you thinking over there," Buffy asked her partner?

Xander grinned down at her, then spoke, "while my original reason for checking those two books out, was to sooth my own hormones, I did read them too, and one of the parts that sticks out the most right now, was the part concerning protection from witchcraft. While there are a few different means in both books, one of the ways they both agreed on, was the use of copper, brass, or bronze, to keep yourself from getting zapped or something."

Buffy turned to her Watcher to see if he agreed, but the widening of his eyes told her the answer, she reached up to pat Xander on the cheek, and quipped, "see, what'd I tell you? Big, yes, you big lug, but dumb? No, fucking, way," she insisted!

 _Sunnydale Science Lab_

The next period they had science class. At Sunnydale High, faculty capacity was unusually low, for a campus and student body so large, so to make-up for the lack of teachers, many teachers taught two classes at the same time, and science class was one of those. Biology class, also called track one, was taught with track two, Chemistry. "Those of you in track one," the teacher instructed, as he drew a vertical line down the ventral section of their complimentary frogs, with his latex gloved hand, "may begin your dissections… now, those of you in track two," he said, putting on his heavy gloves over the latex, "take your hydrochloric acid and ammonium hydroxide and _carefully_ … pour them into… your beakers." He cautioned them to do it slowly, showing them the proper procedures for mixing chemicals.

Xander was in track one, and he was following the teachers previous instructions as well as he could. Normally, he would be squeamish about cutting open dead animals, but if he was going to be Buffy's partner on patrols, he would have to learn to get his hands messy. Giles and Amanda both had told him that not all monsters turned to dust upon death, so he had to learn to stomach these kinds of things, at least the frog was already dead and drained of bodily fluids. He extracted the eye of newt from the frog and dropped it into the solution Willow was heating at her station, then sighing he asked quietly, "how's Buffy doing with the hair?"

Buffy was casually walking down the aisle to the station Amy was at, when a student named Lishanne, the alternate on the squad after Buffy, looked up at her, smiled, and quipped sarcastically, "isn't _this_ exciting?"

Buffy just returned the smile, with a good natured one of her own, and replied with, "oh, yeah." Before she turned to Amy and with a pleading face asked, "Amy, help me," she brought her hands up in a prayerful gesture, "um, which one is the hydrochloric acid, and which is the ammonium hydroxide?"

Amy just smiled and explained in an obvious tone of voice, "well, the bottle that says, 'hydrochloric acid' is usually the hydrochloric acid."

Buffy just shrugged like it should have been obvious to her, and nodded ruefully, "read the bottles," she nodded with a huge grin, "what a concept." Buffy shrugged again and dropped her troll pin, immediately bent down to get it, and while she was down there, went into Amy's open bag and collected the hair she needed from Amy's hairbrush. When she came back up, Amy was looking right at her, and gave Buffy a thin smile, so she stuffed the pencil with the hair in her pocket and with a genuinely concerned smile, stepped closer and asked, "um, Amy," and Amy looked at her expectantly, "the reason I came over here, with the really obvious question," Buffy began, and they both shared a giggle, "was to ask you how you were feeling today, did the shock of yesterday's cheerleader results, have at least a day to wear-off?"

Amy's eyes widened like she was not expecting Buffy's concern, then she cast her eyes down, "my mother went ballistic last night, and made me do double the work-out we normally do. She said I was as worthless as my father," Amy admitted to her. "I barely got to sleep last night, before coming to school this morning," Amy told Buffy, "I had to hurry and finish my homework before I could sleep."

Buffy placed a hand on Amy's arm, "I'm sorry, about that," she said solemnly, "good news is, with Cordy out you're one-step closer to being on the squad." They heard a grunt from the instructor, and he gave them a hard look from the front of the class, so they nodded apologetically, and returned to their work. Amy turned to get back on task, and Buffy returned to her station with Willow and Xander. Buffy gave the hair to Willow as she passed by, who added it to the solution they've been working on all class.

Xander and Willow felt eyes watching them, and turned to where they felt them, noticing Amy staring at them. Willow ignored her, while Xander just grinned benignly, which Amy returned before quickly turning back to her work. "Wave hi to the nice little witch," Xander said with his plastic smile, Amy turned back to them again, and noticed what they were doing, "I don't think we're hiding our intentions here," he groused, "if she knows her stuff then, she knows what we're doing over here."

Buffy and Willow looked at him intensely, then turned to watch Amy with suspicion. The potion complete, Willow took the boiling beaker off the Bunsen burner and poured it in a glass vial, then picked it out of the rack, "all set," she said, and was about to hand it to Buffy, and asked, "do you have a plan?"

"Spill it on her," Buffy sighed, "try to make it look natural," she nutshelled as she reached for the phial, but Xander beat her to it as he grabbed it from Willow before Buffy could get it.

"Let me handle this part," Xander suggested, "I've spilt stuff lots of times," he stated with a cheeky grin, before hurriedly walking around from his side.

Buffy tried to stop him at first with, "no, Xander," she said in a hushed whisper, then in a louder whisper, " _Xander_!" She acquiesced as he got out of her reach, _maybe it would seem more probable for him to spill stuff like that on her, it might make her suspicious if I did it after showing concern before. Besides, I want him to know that I have faith in him, so in the years to come he can return that faith to someone else._

Xander quickly stepped out of easy reach, while walking backward holding the glass-cylinder, he appeared to bump into something, then almost lose control of the vial, his face took on an urgent expression as he fought to retain control of it. "Wha… what… whooooa," he exclaimed, and he appeared to regain control of the phial, with a triumphant yell before turning around right in front of Amy and dumping the potion all over her right arm! The reaction was instantaneous as it turned any skin it made contact with blue, they looked at each other with astonished expressions on their faces. To finish the performance, Xander began muttering apologies, "Amy, I'm so sorry, I guess I was showing off too much, and look, I made a mess," his tone remained apologetic, but his eyes pierced into hers, as he leaned forward to place his arms on either side of Amy.

Amy was just looking at him in fear, and astonishment, "It's… it's okay, Xander," then looking down at her now unblemished skin, "it doesn't seem to have caused anything permanent."

Xander sighed in relief, and dropped his head, "that's a load off my mind, I mean this is high school, the last place we have to be kids before the big bad world is thrust upon us," he reminded her. "This place should be temporary, and unless a horrible accident occurred, like having your hands catch on fire, or you go blind while taking driver's ed, barreling through the school fence into oncoming traffic, and almost kill yourself and three others, before nearly getting flattened by a delivery truck," Xander said all of this in a deadpan voice, as if these horrible things never really happened to people they knew, "I mean high school has one thing going for it in my book, it ends, and whatever happens while you're here should be fond memories down the road, even your not-so-good memories should make you laugh at how much of a dumbass you are," then looking back at his friends, "or were, when you were a kid."

Amy pressed a hand into Xander's chest and pushed him back to arm's length, and he let her. Once Amy had Xander at where she wanted him, she looked at him with hard eyes herself, she said, "some things are permanent, even in high school," she told him, "some choices you make always leave a permanent mark on you!"

Xander stepped back, "sorry again, for spilling on you, Amy," and turned away to return to his station. Looking around when he did, the teacher not even noticing his actions, because he was helping out the girl who spoke to Buffy.

"Lishanne, can you tell me, why these chemicals have this reaction," the science teacher asked her? "Lishanne, are you…" they began to hear muffled screams coming from the station next to Amy. "Oh my God," the teacher exclaimed, and the entire class turned to look at what the commotion was, Lishanne stood up in a panic, it looked like her mouth had been sealed shut! While most of the class looked at the victim, Xander, Buffy, and Willow turned accusatory glares at Amy, but what they saw surprised them, Amy was genuinely shocked by what she was seeing.

It was right after class, and the gang were all in the hallway discussing, what they witnessed toward the end of class. "Did you see, Amy was just as freaked out as the rest of us," Willow reminded them.

"So, it's not her, right," Buffy concluded?

Xander shook his head, "no, the test was positive, her skin did turn blue, for a couple of seconds. She's our Nancy Downs," Xander confirmed. (Author's Note: The Craft)

"Then, I don't think she realizes what she's doing," Buffy suggested.

"Well, should we talk to her," Willow wondered?

Buffy sighed, and looked at Xander, "I think we should talk to her mother, I wonder if she knows, what she's pushed her daughter to become?"

 _ **Finally, Some Action** _

_Sunnydale Cemetery_

That night on patrol, Xander and Buffy were walking through another, Sunnydale graveyard. So far, it was just a routine patrol, quiet, which had become the standard for patrols during their first week as partners. They had been out, for a good two hours, and most of the talk tonight had been on their current dilemma, Amy. Xander was of the opinion that both Amy and Queen Catherine as he came to call her, were actually working together, but her mother was the force behind the witchcraft, while the daughter was just the willing, but misguided follower trying to make her mother proud.

Buffy conceded, that it was possible for that sort of thing to happen, but she wanted to at least keep an open mind, and not become too fixated on either one of them. "Sometimes the most likely culprit, comes in the least likely package, Alec," she instructed him, "if Slaying vampires has taught me one thing, is to never judge a song by the singer, the ugliest truths can come in the most innocent smiles. Hell, most vamps, use seduction as a means to lure their victims in," Buffy instructed, "and they can't do that if they look like a nightmare."

Xander nodded as he scanned the area with his vampiric eyes, another gift from his slain best-friend, which made him understand what Jesse meant when he said he was 'connected to everything,' and, he could 'hear the worms in the Earth.' Luckily for Xander, he could turn these senses on and off when he did not need them, like right now, when on patrol they were active. At home, when he was asleep, or at school he took them off-line, so he was not overwhelmed with sensory input. Amanda had them too, as did all Immortals who have taken the head of a vampire. "I hear you, Anne, and I agree, I'm merely spinning the most probable outcome of what we may encounter," Xander explained with a nod, "and I want to mentally prepare myself if we have to confront both of them."

They reached a section of the graveyard where all the paths converge. This section is twenty-six-feet in diameter, five paths converged on this area, but placed between the path sections were five backless, stone benches, cut in such a way as to create a pentagon. The partners walked into the center of the section, and before she knew it Buffy was pulled roughly, until she found herself pressing fully into Xander. She looked up at him in astonishment, then she saw his eyes boring into hers, but she did not need to be told what he was doing. She lay her head against his shoulder but moved her eye, until she was peering around Xander's arm, to look behind him. "I see them, Alec," she snaked her hand into his jacket, "there are seven of them, coming this way, from behind you."

Xander moved his hands down to her waist, "I count six, back behind you," Xander moved a hand around to her front and into her own jacket, "just so you don't think I'm taking advantage of you, I apologize for feeling you up, when we're not even dating, yet." The vampires were slinking up behind the couple. The bloodsuckers came close to the pair, thinking they were lovers, and totally engrossed in each other.

"It's okay, Alec," Buffy was heard saying, "I trust you, and I'm not uncomfortable with you at all," many of the bloodsuckers smiled lecherous smiles. "Why Mr. La Velle, is that a stake in your pocket or are you happy to see me," Buffy quipped, but she thought, _he said,_ _'we're not dating, yet,' just when do you plan to ask me out, Mr. Harris_?

Xander smirked, "I'm always happy to see you, Ms. Verão," when going out to fight the forces of evil, they felt that calling out their real names could bring trouble to themselves and their families. Therefore, they devised codenames, they would say in place of their common names, but to make it easy for them to remember, they used derivations of their real names. Buffy Anne Summers used her real middle name, and the Portuguese translation of Summers to become, Anne Verão. Alexander Lavelle Harris reverted to his family's past to become, Alec La Velle; Amanda got a little misty-eyed when she heard and thanked him, with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, in her mind, he was honoring her husband by assuming that name.

"I've found something interesting to hold onto," Buffy informed him in a husky voice, many of the vampire's bodies reacted to what they seemed to perceive as a possible copulation.

"Me too, Anne," Xander growled, "how do you like the size?"

"Oh, It'll take some getting used to, Alec," Buffy told him, "it's a bit big for my tiny hand. Do you like how mine feel," Miss Summers asked her partner?

"I'm okay with them, they are a little small for my taste, but I can get used to them," Xander explained to her. Which caused the vamps eyes to quirk, you do not tell a girl that, if you ever wanted to see your girlfriend naked. Many, even the six vamp tramps in the group, were aghast at the stupidity of the boy.

Buffy just huffed, "well excuse me for being so tiny, Alec, I can only do so much with the equipment God gave me," she told him.

"Anne," Xander called out to her, "I never said I didn't like them," then as fast as he could, Xander spins around, bringing something out of her jacket, and into the chest cavity of a glasses wearing nerd, "they work for me just fine."

As Xander moved, so did Buffy, as she brought out a stake from Xander's jacket pocket, as she also spun around to bring it up into the ribcage of a well-built man. They both spun back, and like NBA all-stars pivoted around each other as their respective vampires, turned to dust. Xander and Buffy had on, pretty much the same exterior garments as they did the first time they went to face-off against vampires, except Xander was wearing a different leather bracer, with rivets embedded in the shape of a staurogram, the Greek monogram of Christ on the cross.

Xander brought his arm up to block the punch of a pretty Mexican woman, while plunging his stake through the chest of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white guy. Then full on punched the woman in the face, calling again upon Jesse's fledgling vampiric strength, and what he learned from Amanda, before thrusting forward, and pushing his stake into her chest. Deliberately turning his back on what, he could only describe as an old Asian dude, who hissed as he was repelled by the Templar cross on his back, Xander faced a red-headed, freckle-faced teenager, who lunged directly at Xander. The red-head was apparently a scrapper in life, and seemed to hold his own for a second, as he and Xander traded blows, but Xander's bracers with the symbol of Christ's sacrifice finally got him. He finally recoiled from a particularly powerful punch, but Xander did not let him recover, and dusted him quickly, but as he was dying for the last time, he clutched the stake to his chest and Xander was forced to let go of it. The Asian dude had circled the fight, to find an opening he could exploit and jumped through the dusted form of the red-head, as he fell. Xander's arm was still extended, so he opened his palm, and lowered his center of gravity and let the Asian dude ram right into his palm. The vampire hissed and recoiled from something on Xander's palm.

Another new addition to his wardrobe, a gift from his Aunt Manda, was a pair of fingerless, leather gloves. It was another symbol of Christ, the I-X or X-I monogram, in a circle on the palms, this symbol stands for Jesus Christ. The name of Christ is always more powerful than the symbol of his sacrifice, because it is the name of God. The Asian dude backed up, right into Buffy's stake, who had already dusted her seven, now eight bloodsuckers. There was one more left, and unlike the rest, this one seemed to be content to stand back and watch. This vampire was taller than Buffy, but shorter than Xander, with brown-hair, and seemed to be in his late-teens, early twenties, he was fit but not overly muscular. He was observing them, "I've gotta say, I've been a Vampire for over fifty-years, but I've never seen two people able to keep up with the likes of us."

"I guess, you've never before gone up against a Vampire Slayer," Buffy asked, "have you?"

"Sorry, never heard of a slayer before, my name is Shane," he said shaking his head, "may I have your names?"

"I'm Alec La Velle," Xander introduced himself, then indicating Buffy, "this is Anne Verão, why do you want our names in the first place," Xander asked, as he returned his stake to his jacket's interior pocket, and reached into his Place?

"I like to know the names of the people I snack on," Shane grinned showing his teeth, thinking it would intimidate them, he was obviously new in town, and he really was ignorant of Slayers if he thought showing his teeth to one would intimidate her. Shane lunged and his speed was impressive, but Xander had been ready, his butterfly swords came out, while he and Buffy side-stepped apart. Xander raked his blade across Shane's right-flank, "ow, son of a bitch," Shane looked down and noticed the burning slash across his abdomen! He looked up, at them in astonishment, "but I'm atheist, how can holy objects hurt me?"

Xander raised an eyebrow, "did you think that merely not believing in something would erase it from existence? Oh, the arrogance of us humans, and former humans," he rebuked the vampire, "the Divine exists, whether you believe in them or not." Shane's eyes narrowed, and he snarled and lunged at Xander, who had his butterfly swords in a reverse grip, and as Shane went to clothes-line Xander, Buffy popped up to his side with a spinning side kick right into Shane's injured flank, sending him over a bench into a granite-marble tombstone. "Did you forget, Shane, that I have a partner, who is strong enough by herself to take on a vampire at least two-hundred years-old," Xander quipped?

"How can you let a woman fight your battles for you, Slayer," Shane gasped, leaning against the tombstone?

That raised their eyebrows, "you really don't know anything about Slayers do you, Shane," Buffy asked, "I thought you were just trying to psych yourself up for fighting me."

Shane's eyes were bulging out of their sockets, "you're a Slayer?"

Xander suddenly blurred to his side, using Jesse's speed which surprised Shane, "all Slayers are women, dumbass," Xander snapped, before, like the rolling of thunder he took Shane's head! As the cold-flames of Shane's demonic energy enveloped Xander, Buffy took a seat on one of the stone benches to keep a look out, she thought, _that's my Immortal. I've been thinking about him more and more, not always in PG rated thoughts either. He has been especially on my mind after, what I found out two days ago, I wonder if Xander will meet any Slayer after I'm gone?_ Xander finished absorbing Shane's demonic energy, and stood up with a shake and a shiver, "I'm never gonna get used to that," he moaned.

Buffy looked at him and smiled, "so that happened, we're finally getting some action, on these patrols."

Xander just nodded, then smiled back, "all things being equal, when I'm with a hot girl, I prefer the kind of action that phrase was coined for," his smile widened at her blush, "but it beats being bored, that's for sure."

Xander came around to the front, and Buffy stood up and pushing her chest out, strutted over to meet Xander and pressed herself into him, making sure he could feel her boobs, through his shirt. She crossed her arms and leaned-up with her crossed arms pressing into his upper-chest, she fluttered her eyelashes at him, and with an overly-cutesy voice asked, "do you really think I'm hot, Alec?"

"yes," came Xander's own high-pitched voice, then coughing to clear his throat, he answered again, in a deeper voice, "yes, I do, Anne; you're one of the hottest girls at school and could put some magazine models to shame."

"Well, thank you," Buffy replied, and her blush returned, she inched her way closer to Xander's face, tilting her head to the right, "I think you're pretty handsome too," she whispered. Then at the last instant stepped on her tiptoes and kissed his left cheek, "but we should try to be professional when we're in the field," she admonished him playfully, while stepping away from him quickly.

Xander barked a laugh and jogged after her, as he caught up with her, "oh, so that's the rule," he began, "no hanky-panky on vamp-patrol? What if I'd said, how hot you are when we were at school, or other places," Xander asked?

Buffy gave him a coy smile, "if it's genuine, you'll have to try and see for yourself, now won't you?" Xander, still smiling, began to say something, when his smile dropped off of his face like a leaf from a tree. Buffy stopped immediately, to look at him in concern, "was it something I said?"

Xander shook his head, "no, but I just became really warm, like close to hot, warm," he informed her.

Buffy stepped up to her partner, suddenly all business, and placed her hand on Xander's forehead, and she actually felt the warmth coming off of him, "I'm feeling it too, Alec," then she noticed something, or rather, something she did not notice on her wrist that should have been there, the friendship bracelet Xander gave her. "Alec, did something of yours come up missing today," Buffy, her voice a near whisper, asked with malice, that was in no way, shape, or form directed at her Immortal?

Xander's eyes went blank as he tried to remember, then his jaw dropped open, "my uncle's Vietnam dog tags, I remember seeing them early today, but I don't remember seeing them after…" he paused as realization dawned in his eyes, "… after Chem. lab, when Amy put her hand on my chest to push me away."

Buffy nodded, "well my bracelet is missing too, the one you gave me," she said, in an acidic voice, "Amy must've taken it after she saw me rooting through her bag."

"Are you feeling okay, Anne," Xander asked?

"Other than the fact, someone stole something precious to me, right out from under my nose, I'm peachy," she answered sardonically.

"It's good to know, how much you value my gift, Anne," Xander said, "but I'm just wondering if, other than being pissed you were feeling any different?"

Buffy looked at him in confusion before she understood what he was asking, "no, I don't feel any difference, but that's probably because I took your advice on how to ward-off magic." She pulled out a necklace from under her shirt, the chain was long, and the charm was an infinity symbol, "it was my grandmother's, the chain and the charm are made of solid bronze, and I did my own research, before we came out tonight, another thing most of the sources I checked agreed upon, was the infinity symbol amplified the protection of the necklace like, well… infinitely. So, I'm good, but I want my bracelet back," Buffy exclaimed with a growl, then looking him furiously in the eyes, "it came from someone who means, a lot to me!"

Xander smirked, "then we'll have to get it back, and make sure whomever took it, pays for her crimes," he turned and opened his arm for her, who hooked her own arm through his, and they began to walk forward, "let's finish our patrol and get home, I think we should bang in sick for school tomorrow," he suggested.

"We'll let Amy think her magic worked," Buffy agreed, "and go talk to her mother, Catherine, the-not-so-Great."

 _Summers Residence: the next morning_

Buffy had briefed her mother, on what she knew about magic and witchcraft the day she found out about it. Of course, Joyce, had the same skepticism as Buffy; Vampires, Monsters, and Immortals were one thing, but magic was a little hard to swallow. Joyce called one of her superiors to ask if something like magic was really true, who placed her on hold, while he consulted with several chronicles of Watchers who had Watched, Hunter Immortals. He confirmed that many Immortals, Hunters and Gamers a like ran afoul of magic users who tried to attack them and were unable to do so, and the Immortals ended up killing the magic user, because while they could not be affected directly by magic, those close to them could. While they could be place under an area-effect spell, their Immortal energy was always able to bring them out of it before the spell ran its course or deactivated prematurely. There was even talk of some Immortals hoping to remove their Immortality, and die naturally, via magic. Not long after, these same Immortals having grown tired of living, would usually allow their heads to be taken. There were other Immortals, that tried to use magic to make their significant others Immortal, but whatever methods they employed were immediately overturned by their own Quickening, apparently the energies that create an Immortal, would not allow any other power to exist in conjunction with itself.

All of that information was relayed back to Joyce, who told Buffy about it, just incase she got any bright ideas about using magic to help Xander, or herself. Joyce was not blind to the way her daughter acted around her partner, so she wanted to let Buffy know how any future with Xander might happen, if she thought she could stay with him forever. Buffy was subdued when Joyce told her what she had learned, how magic worked around Immortals, and how it affected their significant others. This was the first night after Buffy learned about the existence of magic, and Xander noticed that she was mostly quiet while on patrol that night, which was two nights ago. Buffy refused to talk about what was bothering her, and Xander knew, thanks to being best-friends with a girl, that constantly asking would just make her more reluctant to talk to him. She let him believe when he asked, if losing out on the squad had her depressed, but adamantly denied that she was mad at him, for getting her hopes up with the way he broke the news of her standing on the squad. _What does making the squad matter, he may be Immortal, but he's human? I'm sure I'll get mad at him in the future, but I refuse to allow myself to resent him, because of something as petty as not knowing the difference between an alternate and true victory._

This morning Buffy sat in her bedroom, in her meditation pose, contemplating everything she had learned about her significant male friend. She was beginning to have strong feelings for her Immortal friend, but she did not know if they were born out of what she learned earlier in the week, or if they have been there from the beginning of their relationship. Buffy knew she was lacking in experience with relationships, since her only significant boyfriend, had dumped her not long after she began training as a Vampire Slayer, because she could not tell him what she was doing, and because she started spending less time with him, because of her duties as the Slayer. Of course, that would not be a problem with Xander, since as her partner out in the field, they spent quite a bit of time together already. He, of course knows about her Slayer commitments, since he was a part of her Slayer existence, and not intimidated by her Calling, or powers.

Buffy was not worried about him feeling inadequate around her, since he had his own abilities. It seems whenever he takes the head of a new Vampire, he acquires their abilities. Xander has used Jesse's fledgling abilities, since taking his best-friend's head, but when he took Shane's head last night, an older, more powerful vampire, the strength, and speed of the older vampire, replaced Jesse's powers. _He showed me the difference, last night when we got home, we sparred, and his hits were marginally more powerful, and he was marginally faster, than yesterday._ Buffy wondered, if he could ever become stronger than her, _Slayers grow stronger the longer they're active, with a partner like Xander, my life expectancy has increased, I might actually reach my thirties, if he stays with me. I wonder if there's an upper-limit to how powerful we can become?_

 _Outside of Amy and Catherine's: Noon_

Buffy had asked her mother to allow her to skip school today, because of the plan she and Xander hatched yesterday. They wanted to confront Amy's mother, about pushing her daughter so much to join the cheer squad, that she had to resort to using magic to hurt other people just to be on the squad. Joyce was angry, when they told her their suspicions regarding Catherine, "it seems like her mother is unfit to be one and seems obsessed, with trying to recapture her 'glory days,'" she growled, "instead of letting her daughter enjoy being a teenager. She also seems to be resentful of the choices she made," Joyce concluded, "she made bad choices in her life, and seems determined to make her daughter pay for them." Joyce granted Buffy's request to stay home, but told her not to make it a habit, as she may not always be so generous. Amanda, of course approved Xander's request, and after relaying their plan to Giles and Willow, would let them know when Amy got to school. Buffy called the captain of the cheer squad and told her she would not be able to attend tonight's basketball game, which put Amy on the squad.

When Xander and Buffy showed up at the house of their adversary, they received a surprise. Giles had taken a long luncheon, so he could meet them at the house, to tell the woman what he thought of her parenting. They walked up to the door and knocked, they saw Amy's mother sitting on her living-room couch, eating brownies, she jumped up, wiping her hands of crumbs, and hurried over to open the door. When she got there, she spotted Xander, and a smile of recognition crossed her face, when she opened the door, immediately said, "Hey Xander," she greeted him!

That raised Xander's eyebrows, "Ms. Madison," Xander returned politely, but with barely concealed contempt, which made her flinch.

"What's wrong," Catherine asked?

Giles stepped up, and began to speak urgently, "Mrs. Madison, we need to talk to you about your daughter!"

As they stood in the doorway, Xander began to feel extremely hot, and the heat was coming from the woman in front of him. "I'm not allow…" she began, then closed her mouth and eyes, and began again, "you'll have to come back later," and started to close the door on them.

Giles, however decided to be forceful, "Excuse me," as he forced the door open and walked through!

Catherine stepped back hurriedly, "What?!"

The three filed into the house, and Xander took the lead since her power did not affect him, and as he got closer, he could tell something was off, and he voiced his concerns, "Buffy, somethings wrong, I'm getting extremely strong, and evil magic, coming from her."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Xander," the red-head exclaimed!

"Oh, I think you know, only too well," Giles snapped!

"You've got to go," the middle-aged woman pleaded, "she could be home any minute, and…"

Xander's eyes went wide, "I remember something, when Amy was in sixth-grade she had a crush on a boy in our class. She used to sit beside him at lunch," he added, "she was his first kiss, he was wearing blue-jeans, and a Superman t-shirt."

"No, he wasn't, Jesse didn't like Superman," Catherine seemed to say automatically, "it was a Batman t-shirt!" Then she froze and looked at Xander and her face was so horrified at her slip, she began laughing, uncontrollable laughing, bordering on hysteria, before finally devolving into full anguished sobs, as she made her way to the one person in the room, she felt she could trust. She threw her arms around Xander's neck and sobbed into his chest.

"Amy," Buffy inquired, "are you Amy?" Amy in Catherine's body looked at her, then nodded, as she continued sobbing into Xander's chest. Xander was stroking her hair and trying to soothe her with gentle words.

Giles was looking between the crying woman and his Slayer, "I don't understand."

"She switched," Buffy said softly as the realization dawned on her, "she switched your bodies, didn't she?" Amy could only nod as she continued to cry, "it makes since, Xander can only sense magic if it is active, and I think, the more evil the spell the hotter you burn," Buffy guessed as she looked at her Immortal, "I can't think of a more evil deed than taking somebody's body. I'm kinda glad about that," she mused.

"Good Lord," Giles whispered.

"Mom was right," Buffy informed them in a horror struck voice, "Catherine, wanted to relive her glory days."

By now Amy was getting herself under control, and still sniffling began to speak, "she said I was wasting my youth," and with a brave smile said, "so she took it."

"I'm thinking that the citizens of Salem, might've had the right idea when it came to certain witches," Xander growled.

Madison family living room

It was a few minutes later, after Xander had calmed himself, they sat in the living room. Amy, in Catherine's body, began telling them about her life under her mother's thumb. "I didn't know anything about her powers," she was saying, "when my dad was here, they would fight and yell, and he would call her a witch." Amy seemed to be looking into the past, not at anybody in particular, "and, I mean, I just thought he meant…"

"… with a capital B," Xander answered, trying to inject some levity into the atmosphere.

Amy smiled and nodded in gratitude, Buffy smirked as well, only Giles remained serious throughout the whole story. "Oh, God, when he left, I **so** wanted to go with him," Amy continued, "but mom wouldn't even let me call him. She went crazy," Amy said in a distraught voice, "I mean, she'd lock herself upstairs for days, and she was always coming down on me, and telling me I didn't deserve to have it so easy and that I didn't know how hard it was to be her…," she trailed off as she looked down at herself, then back up. "I guess she showed me, huh," she asked, as she looked at them with tears in her eyes?

Buffy, who was sitting down beside Amy on the couch, placed a sympathetic hand on Amy's arm. "Amy, it's gonna be okay," Buffy assured her.

"A few months ago, I woke up in her… her bed," Amy told them as she began telling them about her body switch, "I didn't know where I was, and… then I looked in the mirror…" Amy trailed off and began to get lost in her memories, then Giles was suddenly kneeling beside her.

"She locked herself upstairs," he asked urgently?

"Yes," answered Amy.

"Where," demanded Giles?

Upstairs

Amy, showed Xander, Buffy, and Giles to her mother's spell room, which surprisingly was not locked. Xander insisted he be the first to enter, since his life was expendable and magic could not hurt him, which bewildered Amy, but Buffy and Giles only nodded sadly. He walked in looking around spotting a cauldron hanging over a fire, several barbie-dolls hanging by their hair from the rafters. Many of them were dressed in scaled-down Sunnydale cheerleader outfits, the last three entered after him, Giles in second, followed by Buffy, with Amy bringing up the rear.

As they moved further in, Amy suddenly got a touch of nerves, and clutched at Buffy's sleeve. "No please," she pleaded, "If she finds out I've been in here, she'll kill me!"

Xander looked at her with raised eyebrows in thought, _something tells me that's not just an expression in this case_ , aloud he said, "Martha Stewart, this mom is not," he quipped, then looking at Giles, "I only read a couple of books on this subject, Giles. What do we do, the only thing I learned about how to end a witch's spells was to kill the witch, by beheading? It's not something I'm ready for yet," Xander said seriously, "if I ever will be for that kind of thing."

Giles glanced at him and nodded, before moving closer to the work bench, and spotted several of the dolls, in their spell representations. "My God," Giles scoffed, "I believe we can reverse your mother's spells," he turn back to them, "all of them."

"You could," Amy asked, not daring to believe her nightmare could be over, "really? You could?"

"We need to find her books," Giles replied, "there'll be specific… volumes she'd need for these kinds of castings." Then Giles moved around the room until he found the trunk, knocking off a wicker-basket, and black candle, before opening it. "Collect those dolls," he ordered them, "and any other personal…" as he opened the trunk a black cat came screeching out of the trunk, frightening the life out of the school librarian, in bated breath Giles said, "nice… kitty."

Buffy and Xander found the dolls representing them, both had Xander's uncle's dog-tags, and the bracelet given to her by Xander, respectively. Buffy's was the generic Barbie, while Xander's was a Ken-doll with his hair painted black, they immediately took back their possessions, since whatever magic meant to be used on them, had obviously failed. Then careful not to disturb the spells that worked, they found a canvas bag and placed each of them in the bag carefully, even their own, just to be thorough.

Giles took a breath to calm his nerves, "let's see what you were guarding." He raised the lid and dug through the trunk. He found a single, dusty tome that seemed to be what he was looking for, "Ah, yes, this is it."

"You found it, great," Buffy asked while standing next to Xander, with the canvas bag in hand, "now what?"

Giles stood-up, brandishing the spell book high, "now we reverse this witch's spells," then bringing down the book, "but we need to make sure she cannot get up to her mischief again."

"We also need to make sure, Amy's okay afterward," Buffy added, "trying to push your kid into a sport they don't like, isn't considered grounds to declare her an unfit mother, right?"

"Either way, we can't confront her here," Xander determined, "this is her home turf, and according to Sun Tzu, to fight on the enemies chosen ground will leave victory in doubt, it would be suicide to do anything here."

Giles widened his eyes in surprise, "he is right, surprisingly, when you confront a witch, you most definitely shouldn't do it from her place of power, but on your own, for me that is the school."

"We should probably also do it while she's distracted," Buffy suggested, "but we can let the cheer squad, do it for us."

"You mean during the game tonight," Xander surmised?

"More like at half-time," Buffy specified.

 _Sunnydale High Gymnasium_

Buffy took Amy-in-Catherine's body home with her, to get her out of the house, Joyce was not home, as she was at work. Giles returned to work, and Xander was dropped off at school by Amanda, with a forged note from an ophthalmologist, and spent the rest of the day at school, where he briefed Willow on what they found out. There are a few things that piss-off a Willow, but messing with her friends, especially the way Catherine did it, was one of those things. So, they waited for the day to end, and attended the game, just to keep an eye on, the not-Great-at-all Catherine-in-Amy's body. Amy was sporting a big smile on her face, as she finally seemed to get to relive the greatest times of her life.

 _Science Lab_

Meanwhile, Buffy, Amy-in-Catherine, and Giles arrived in the science lab. "Right, let's get started, while your mother is distracted with the game," he said looking at Amy-in-Catherine. They took all of the dolls out and laid them on the table, in no particular order, side-by-side. "I'm going to stop this," Giles assured Amy, "I promise."

 _Gymnasium_

Back in the gym, the cheerleaders were doing their job, by keeping the crowd pumped with, " **GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! 6, 7, 8… GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! 6, 7, 8… GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! 6, 7, 8…** GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! GO, SUNNYDALE, GO! 6, 7, 8…,"

Catherine-in-Amy was reveling in the limelight, it was everything she remembered, and as she let the excitement wash over her, she felt no guilt whatsoever. She gave her daughter life, and she squandered it, therefore Catherine took it back. She could now live her life over again, and she would not make the same mistakes she made in her previous life.

 _Science Lab_

Back in the lab, Amy-in-Catherine, and Buffy, were helping Giles get the ingredients together to reverse all of Catherine's spells. Amy was dissecting a frog to get the eyes, and Buffy was working the bunsen-burner and bringing a few things to boil. Giles had just finished with his own preparations, and called their attention to him, "Right, here we go," he started, reciting in English then Latin, "The center is dark/ _centrum est obscurus._ The darkness breathes/ _Tenebrae respiratis._ The listener hears/ _Quod audit aliquis auditorem_." Then turning his voice to the heavens, "HEAR ME!"

 _Gymnasium_

In the gym, the game was proceeding apace, and the cheerleaders were really on fire, figuratively speaking, " **GO! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!** " When Catherine-in-Amy suddenly stopped, as she became disoriented, when she suddenly got a vision, of a book, then a frog on a science tray laid out in front of her.

Xander's Quickening began to warm, as he watched the blonde on the gym floor.

 _Science Lab_

In the science lab, the same thing was happening to Amy-in-Catherine, as she perceived the gym, and sighed in awe, "it's… it's working!"

Giles began reading in earnest, "Unlock the gate/ _Recludam de porta_. Let the darkness shine/ _Luceat Fiat tenebrae_. Cover us with Holy Fear/ _Ne timeobduxit nos apud sancti_. Show me…" As he continued to read, Amy-in-Catherine was reeling all over the place, as the spell began its work. Buffy moved around in front of her and grabbed her shoulders to help steady her.

 _Gymnasium_

The game had reached half-time and the cheerleaders were performing their floor routine. A standard cheerleader pyramid, with Amy at the apex, but she suddenly could not stand up straight. She began to wobble, she saw the scene again, but Buffy was looking her in the eye, the pyramid could not hold, and she tumbled to the floor. Xander and Willow saw it all, and Xander's Quickening was still warm, he nudged Willow and jerked his head, indicating for her to follow him. Catherine-in-Amy stood up and began running for the door to the gym.

 _Science Lab_

Amy-in-Catherine raised her eyes to look at Buffy intensely, "She's coming!"

 _Hallway_

Catherine-in-Amy was barreling through the hallway, slamming through doors, trying to get to the Science Lab. "Amy," Willow called.

"Get out of my way," Catherine-in-Amy ordered!

"W-Wait," Willow stammered, "I-I need to talk to you. I-I can help you."

"Help me," Catherine-in-Amy grinned, "with what?"

"Well – Well, you know," Willow said, "uh, your witchcraft? I know this really good cauldron; do you actually ride a broom?"

Catherine-in-Amy recognized a stall tactic when she heard one, and suddenly looked behind her with her hand raised, but saw nothing. Catherine-in-Amy did not have time to waste with this girl, so she brought her fist around, and decked Willow. She now had to run, and she was almost to the Science Lab, when ahead of her, barring her path was Xander. She immediately thrust her hand forward in a grasping claw.

Xander felt his throat grow hot and clutched it, as he felt a shortness of breath, he began to wheeze and kneel on the floor. Catherine-in-Amy grinned wickedly, as she approached the apparently stricken Xander, "you naughty, little boy, did you think you could stop me?" By now, Catherine-in-Amy was standing right in front of Xander, with hands on hips, "as I told you yesterday, Alexander Harris, even in high school somethings are permanent," then she seemed to tighten her hold, "but it looks like you may not even make it out of high school."

Then as quick as an arrow leaving the bow, Xander's right hand shot out grabbing Catherine-in-Amy by the throat, and he stood up picking her up using a choke-hold. "Nah, your powers didn't even affect me, I just needed to get you close to me," Xander began lightly, before his tone descended, until he practically snarled. Catherine-in-Amy clutched at his grip as he lifted her, he was not squeezing hard enough to choke her, but her horror at her magic failing her added to her loss of breath. "If we didn't need her body intact and functioning properly," Xander began menacingly, "I'd totally be choke-slamming you into the floor, but that's Amy's body you're wearing Ms. Madison, so until she's back in it, you just hang tight."

 _Science Lab_

"Corseth and Gilail…," Giles chanted, with raised arms, "The gate is closed/ _Sit ad portam clausi_. Receive the dark/ _Accipite tenebris_. Release the unworthy/ _Ad indignus, Solve_! Take of mine energy and be sated/ _Nec uxorem de navitas mea et saturetur_!" Then as he said that, Giles plunged his hands down into the boiling liquid, the pain was obviously unbearable, as he gnashed his teeth in pain. "Be Sated, Release the Unworthy/ _Ut propius fastidium: tubam solve indigni_. Release! Release," he raised his hand in the direction of the dolls on the table, "RELEASE!"

 _Hallway_

Out in the hallway, a change came over Catherine-in-Amy, a sudden glow began to illuminate from her eyes, and like the flash of lightning the spell was broken. Still in Xander's grasp, Amy's eyes went wide, and her mouth became slack, as the energies that returned her soul to her left her. "Xander," came Amy's voice in a croak, "it's me, I'm back."

Xander studied her closely, to make sure Catherine was not trying to deceive him, "what was Jesse wearing the first time you kissed him, it was a Spider-Man t-shirt, right?"

Despite her position with Xander's hand around her throat, Amy gave an exasperated sigh, "I told you today, Xander, it was a Batman t-shirt!"

Xander gave her one more hard look, before grinning and setting Amy on her feet, gently, "welcome back, Ames," he said giving her a hug, which she returned.

Amy stepped back, beaming, it felt good to be back in her teenage body, then a look of horror crossed her face, "Buffy, Giles, if I'm here, then mom's back there, with them!"

Xander's eyes boggled as he remembered, "I've gotta go check on Willow, your mom really laid her out earlier," as he looked between his best-friend, and his partner's directions, he was struck by indecision.

Amy laid a hand on Xander's arm, "Go get Willow, I'll go help Buffy."

"Are you sure," Xander asked, still unsure about letting her go back alone.

Amy nodded, "I think it's time I had a talk with my mom," she said in a determined voice.

Xander nodded, "okay, here's a key to get you into the lab," she looked at him with a curious expression. "I was to be a failsafe, in case their spell didn't work, it was supposed to be my job to finish off your mom," Xander said in a subdued voice. She raised her eyes in alarm, but he rushed on, "but the spell worked, so that no longer matters." Xander began to walk quickly back the way he came to check on his best-friend, but Amy had to ask something.

"Hey, Xander," she asked, "I know, with everything that's going on this may seem like an unimportant question, but where's Jesse, and how did you know about our kiss? We were alone for that," Amy told him, "and Jesse swore he wouldn't tell anybody, and his promises are worth more than gold."

Xander suddenly stopped, with his head down, then turning his head so they could see each other out of the corner of his eye, "he's dead, as for how I know," he said looking away from her stricken expression, "I'll have to tell you that, some other time."

Amy nodded, before turning herself, "I'll hold you to that," then walked back down the hall, slow at first before breaking into a run. Xander turned and was gone before she turned the corner.

 _Science Lab: Thirty-seconds ago_

Buffy watched, as the same change that happened to Amy out in the hall, took place in the Science Lab to Catherine. As she came out of her stupor, the sweet, pensive expression from before, morphed into a wicked grin, that was pure evil. Buffy, who was still holding Catherine by the shoulders to steady Amy-in-Catherine, saw her flick her head, then a look of alarm came over Catherine's face as her magic failed, yet again to provide results. Buffy stood back from the witch, with a capital B, and gave her a confident grin. "Things are turning pear-shaped on you, aren't they, Cate," Buffy asked? Then before Catherine could recover, Buffy reared back and launched her fist, striking the witch so hard, she flew across the room, over an entire table rebounding from a bookcase of chemicals.

Catherine was just standing up when the door unlocked, and Amy came into the room, carrying a fireman's axe. "Mom… please…," Amy pleaded pointing the axe head at her mother. Catherine raised her hand toward her daughter, and the axe was jerked out of Amy's hand through the air into her outstretched hand. Giles ran out closing the door behind him, thinking, _this seems like a ladies only conversation, I'll go see where Willow and Xander have gotten to._

Catherine looked at her daughter with nothing but hatred, "You… you little brat," she snarled with contempt, "how dare you raise your hand to your mother. I gave birth to you," she spat, "I gave up my life so you could drag that worthless carcass around and call it living?"

"Oh, grow up," Buffy snapped, "and stop blaming your daughter for the choices you made! You think she owes you anything," Buffy asked? "Nobody forced you to spread your legs for the so-called, 'Homecoming King,' that was your choice, bitch!" Buffy stood in front of a far wall, with the Periodic Table behind her, and a giant mirror suspended on her right. "You fell into the same trap a lot of people do, you thought high school and cheerleading were all there was to life, and everybody would continue to worship the not-so-Great Catherine, the rest of their lives. You probably had plenty of people telling you to get over yourself, and buckle-down on school, so you'd be ready for life after Sunnydale and cheerleading. You didn't listen, did you? You thought you knew how the world worked, and your high school popularity would follow you afterwards," Buffy guessed with her arms crossed, looking at Catherine in contempt, "when low and behold you got out into the real world and discovered, that nobody gave two-shits about your school-cred?"

"You're Homecoming King, turned out to be just a regular guy, and you could no longer call upon your 'friends' from high school, because unlike you, they moved on from here, and made lives for themselves. Something you never did, and instead of seeing you with respect, all they saw was a pathetic bitch, clinging to the past and not seeing the blessings you had in front of you, like your husband, who if what your daughter told me was true, worked his ass off to provide you and Amy with a roof over your head, and a full belly. Of course, that wasn't enough for Queen Catherine, was it? She wanted to live in a palace, sitting on her ass while all the lesser people slaved away," Buffy concluded with derision, "I'd say you were pathetic, but then that would be an insult to the other pathetics everywhere."

The longer Buffy spoke the angrier Catherine became, then with an acidic hiss she said, "I'm gonna put both of you little bitches, where you can't get in my way again." Catherine bowed her head and placed her hand in supplication, then began to chant, "I shall look upon my enemies…" then raised her head, as her eyes became all black, "I shall look upon her," she said as she looked at Buffy, then turned her eyes upon Amy, "and her," she growled, "and the dark place will have her soul." As she spoke her power began to rise, and little firefly-like motes began flitting about her person, and Buffy began to look around. She spotted the mirror being held up by a rod, "Corsheth, take her," Catherine finished chanting, and a pinkish energy was emitted from Catherine's body, and it was coming directly at her, and Amy!

Buffy did not know if her bronze infinity necklace would stop the spell coming her way, but she was not going to take the chance, plus Amy did not have any kind of protection Buffy knew about. "Hyah," Buffy screamed as she kicked the metal rod, and brought the mirror down in front of her and Amy! The energy reflected off the mirror, directly back at Catherine, who began to scream as the energy did to her, what she intended it to do to Buffy and her daughter and took her. Buffy looked at Amy, "you okay?"

Amy, her smile thin, replied, "I'm fine!"

The door opened and Xander, ran in with his butterfly-swords at the ready. Giles had come to take care of Willow, giving Xander a chance to come check on his partner. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner, but Amy here or her mom, packs a mean punch," Xander explained, "Willow's still a bit dizzy. Everything alright here, Buff," he asked urgently, "where's Queen Catherine?"

Buffy smiled warmly at him, "everything's fine, Xander," then thinking about his second question, "she's gone, I don't know where, but considering she planned to send me and Amy there, it's probably not some place she'll enjoy."

Amy walked over to Xander, "Xander, I think it's about time you told me what happened to Jesse," she demanded gently, "and how you can't be affected by magic?" Buffy's eyes widened, but Xander's eyes were filled with resignation, to the inevitable.

"It began two weeks ago, when Aunt Manda returned to Sunnydale," he began…


End file.
